Bill4Time

Articles from a Time Billing Software Company

Andrew McDermott

2 Ethical Ways Attorneys Can Maximize Their Use of Facebook

By Leave a Comment

2 Ethical Ways Attorneys Can Maximize Their Use of Facebook

In the right hands, Facebook is an incredibly powerful firm building tool. But it has a sweet spot – B2C firms. Even better, it produces significant value when the right amount of effort is applied.

Which is why it’s ignored.

Most lawyers prefer to focus their limited time and attention on business development platforms they view as a “sure thing.”

Many lawyers ignore Facebook for one simple reason

It isn’t a sure thing.

These attorneys prefer to focus on tried-and-true, but minimally effective strategies like purchasing leads. You pay a third-party platform a flat fee for a particular lead.  Next, you wait for the leads to come in. Finally, you race to follow up with each and every lead you receive.

On the surface, this sounds great.

It’s an easy way to attract the attention of eager and motivated clients. If you’re running a consumer-facing firm this is exactly what you’re looking for.

Here’s the problem.

Many firms receive the same set of leads you do. This means at least three or five other firms are racing to get in touch with the same prospect before you do.

This is very bad news.

If you’ve purchased these leads before you know where I’m going with this. These lead services are typically riddled with problems.

  • The prospect’s contact info is often missing or incorrect
  • Prospects are irritable and unwilling to negotiate further due to being inundated calls
  • Prospects are price conscious, disloyal and focused on “deals”
  • Many of these services don’t offer refunds. Ten bad leads at $60 per is a $600 loss

Most firms accept these losses as a cost of doing business. They continue to pay for these nonexistent/low quality leads on a daily, monthly or annual basis.

It’s a tremendous waste of money.

Facebook is tremendously valuable…

If you know where to look.

If you’d like to put Facebook to work you’ll need one thing above all else.

Consistency.

Consistency is the key to making all of this work. You’ll need to invest for the long term. If you’re a trusted source people can depend on, Facebook will supply you with a steady stream of eager, motivated and focused clients. Here are two ways lawyers can use Facebook for effective and comprehensive business development.

Strategy #1: Closing prospective clients

Here’s a simple and straightforward strategy you can use to win over prospective clients. First, you’ll need to determine what your clients want. The strategy we’ll follow is straightforward and simple.

  1. Choose one specific practice area (e.g. bankruptcy). If you’re like most firms, your focus is spread across multiple practice areas. You want to choose one practice area to start. Why? You’ll need time to work the kinks out of your advertising campaign.
  2. Do keyword research on bankruptcy, credit, and debt related topics. Head over to Google keyword planner and Google trends to start searching for content ideas. You’re looking for educational content ideas – Helpful content you can create for your prospective clients.
  3. Create educational content (on your selected topics). Your content should be practical. It should present your client’s problem in their own words. Recommended solutions to their problem, and a way to contact you if they prefer you to handle things for them.
  4. Advertise your educational content to a specific and highly targeted audience (i.e. a specific demographic in your state or county). You want to outline the demographics and psychographics of your ideal client ahead of time.
  5. Use retargeting/remarketing to follow up with prospects who have already visited your site. You want to present these clients with an irresistible offer and a compelling value proposition. An irresistible offer could be a compelling bonus, discount or incentive that gets prospective clients to take action immediately.
  6. Show prospective clients the next step. What do they have to do to receive your compelling offer? Do they call you, stop in to see you personally or schedule a free consultation? Make their next steps easy, simple and clear. The easier it is for clients to request/pay for your services the more likely they are to do it.

Strategy #2: Build a stable platform for clients

Facebook groups are a goldmine.

They’re easy ways to build an audience of like-minded prospects around a specific practice or focus area. There are two ways to use Facebook groups to attract prospects.

  1. Build a group. Building a group gives you control. You’re able to structure the terms and conditions of the group. You decide whether your group is open to the public or private for members only. Groups you build can be targeted to a specific demographic or psychographic.
  2. Join a group. There are hundreds of thousands of groups on Facebook. These groups are structured around a particular topic, theme or focus area. They’re a great way to attract a massive audience in a very short period of time. Groups you join are helpful but they tend to be broad, serving a massive audience over a larger area.

I’d recommend that you use both. Here’s how you do it.

First, build a group.

You can follow these instructions to create your own Facebook group. You want to use the demographics and psychographics you outlined earlier to determine who you’ll accept or reject. If you’re a bankruptcy attorney in the state of Kansas, focus your attention exclusively on bankruptcy credit and debt topics. Only accept members if they live in the state of Kansas.

Easy, right?

Next, join a group.

You want to create a list of Facebook groups you can join. Your goal? (a.) Help the members of other groups. Offer legal information, help, and support to people in relevant groups. (b.) Post content as your page. Here are some instructions and how to do that.

Redirect prospects who visit your page to your Facebook group first and your website second. Why send them to your group first? Why not send them to your website and try to convert them there?

They’re not ready.

Google ads are more like an auction. Prospects are in a buying mindset. Facebook is like a party. Prospects are in a socializing mindset. When you drive prospects to your website it’s often viewed as a hard sell. Sending them to your Facebook group gives you the chance to build a relationship and add value.

What if prospects are in a buying mindset?

It’s a great problem to have. They can visit your website or contact you for a consultation.

Here’s why this group strategy works.

  1. Building a group of your own builds a stable audience of eager, like-minded clients.
  2. Joining someone else’s group gives you the opportunity to add value to people in your area who may be looking for a professional with your skills
  3. When you serve group members you trigger the law of reciprocity. Prospects who feel indebted to you or impressed with your legal information are far more likely to contact you for help. These prospects typically won’t haggle over price. They also tend to trust your judgment and expertise, become stable long-term clients.

What if you don’t have the time?

That’s easy.

You use the same strategy elite attorneys use to get an enormous amount of work done in a very short period of time.

I’m talking about dead time.

Dead time is occupied time. The time where you’re doing something tedious, repetitive or mindless (mostly). Eating lunch at your desk, your daily commute to and from work, working out, etc. Here’s how you use it to get more work done.

  1. Hire a virtual assistant to manage your Facebook group
  2. Have them send you specific questions from members
  3. Use a digital recorder or your smartphone to record your answers to member questions
  4. Have these answers transcribed and posted to Facebook (or post them as a video or podcast)

It’s easy efficient and helpful.

Facebook could be your secret weapon

In the right hands, it’s a powerful firm building and business development tool. It’s a platform many attorneys choose to ignore. Facebook is the perfect B2C platform for small, medium and large consumer-facing law firms.

The good news, it’s being ignored.

Most attorneys choose to focus on the sure thing. As we’ve seen, the sure thing isn’t really a sure thing. These lead services come with problems of their own. A severe amount of competition, disloyal clients and poor quality overall.

Your hands are the right hands.

Start today, be consistent and you’ll find Facebook is the secret business development weapon you’ve always wanted.

The Ultimate Guide To Earning an Interview for Your Law Firm

By Leave a Comment

interview interviews

Earning interviews is the only way to survive.

That’s according to the 2019 Report on the State of the Legal Market. Before looking at the data, there’s only one way for law firms (of all sizes) to grow. That’s through fierce, zero-sum competition.

If you want to win, your competitor has to lose. For your competitor to lose, you need to earn interviews.

It’s the sobering yet unpleasant reality law firms face today. Law firms are unable to protect their two most valuable assets – their talent and their clients. Both can be lost to a well-prepared or overzealous competitor.

Is stable law firm growth possible in today’s market?

If you’re like many other attorneys, the previous paragraph was borderline repulsive. It’s as if I’m suggesting firms have to destroy each other to survive. It’s not that extreme yet but it is a difficult situation.

The data confirms this.

A recent survey by LexisNexis found 60 percent of attorneys see retaining clients as a challenge. The majority of attorneys/law firms are struggling to hold onto their clients.

How did we get here?

How did we get to the place where there isn’t enough business to go around? The explanation provided in the 2019 report is chilling.

“Competition Is More Fierce than Ever. In a market characterized by sluggish demand growth, the only way for one firm to improve its market position viz-a-viz another is by taking existing market share. That in turn drives increased competition.

It also highlights one of the unique vulnerabilities of law firms: the fact that, unlike other businesses, law firms cannot protect their two most critical assets – their people and their clients. In contrast to other business organizations, law firms are not permitted to impose non-compete agreements on their lawyers or to impede in any other way the freedom of lawyers to leave one firm and join another.

Similarly, law firms cannot bind their clients into continuing engagements or impose any financial penalty on a client that, for any reason or for no reason, decides to switch its business to another firm. These unique restrictions make law firms particularly vulnerable to shifts in market conditions and contribute to the overall fragility of law firms as organizations.”

This is a byproduct, it’s not the cause.

The cause is stagnant growth. The great recession hammered firms, reducing the demand for legal services, inducing layoffs and reductions at firms large and small. Since then the pattern has been the same. The demand for legal services is slightly up in some years and down in others.

Here, see for yourself.

demand service interview

Stagnant growth + restrictions re: talent and clients = increased competition

2018 was a (modest) growth year but we have no idea whether the up and down growth pattern we’ve seen is primed to continue.

Earning interviews: The secret to stable law firm growth

When you earn an interview your firm has a chance to win over new clients. There’s a very good chance these clients are already working with a competing firm.

It’s unavoidable, it’s also the cost of doing business.

When most firms earn an interview, they focus on the wrong target. Many of them focus on winning over new clients immediately and closing the sale. Most of the time, this approach is premature.

There are three reasons why: (1.) Your clients already have a firm – they can choose to stay with them. (2.) There’s a very good chance these prospective clients are dissatisfied with their current firm, otherwise why are they looking? (3.) Most likely, these prospective clients expect you to demonstrate a significant improvement (in value) over their current firm.

To win them over, you’ll need a few simple ingredients:

  1. An understanding of the problem. Clients want to see that you understand their problem, can recite their problems back to them (typically in their own words) and that you have a solution to their problems.
  2. An irresistible offer is a low risk, introductory offer that overcomes a prospective client’s distrust, fear and resistance. The right offer gets your foot in the door and provides you with an opportunity to grow.
  3. An urgency trigger is a compelling reason, motivator or trigger that gets prospective clients to take action quickly. A genuine urgency trigger motivates, while dishonest triggers repel.
  4. A strong value proposition is a promise. Law firms have a strong value proposition when their value proposition is appealing, exclusive, credible and clear. Meet all four criteria and your law firm is truly unique.
  5. Risk reversals reduce the inherent risk clients face. How it works is simple. Law firms assume the risk that would normally be placed on a client’s shoulders.
  6. Compelling objection counters. Your clients will have questions (objections) to your service. They’re not looking for you to parry, evade or counter these questions. They’re looking for compelling, satisfactory and complete answers to their probing questions.
  7. Outstanding presentation. It’s human nature. Your clients are going to judge you. The things your clients can see (design quality, skill, reviews) tells them about what they can’t see (values, character, trustworthiness). If both of these elements align, clients believe your message. If there’s a mismatch, you create distrust and resistance.

These ingredients help you convert the unconverted. Do they also help you earn an interview with your prospective clients?

Absolutely.

Here’s the thing. You’ll want to obey the model rules of professional conduct. This means you need to avoid misleading claims and promises that cannot be kept (duh).

You already know the rules.

As it turns out, the seven ingredients used to convert clients are the very same ingredients you use to attract these clients. These details all boil down to one thing, communication. The bad news? The data shows most firms aren’t doing a great job of communicating.

Here’s the proof.

  • client metrics
  • Client rank = the importance of this issue to clients
  • Client % = how clients rate their attorney/firm
  • Lawyer % = how attorneys rate themselves

Well, this is awkward.

Attorneys feel they’re doing a fantastic job but clients disagree. This is why firms are struggling to hold onto their clients. These attorneys/firms aren’t paying attention. They’re not getting actionable feedback from their clients.

That’s your “in.”

Your “in” begins with an interview

First, go through your client roster. Make a list of the clients you’d like to keep/earn more business from. Don’t add every client you have to the list simply because they have money. Money shouldn’t be the exclusive deciding factor.

Use value instead.

Which of your clients have produced significant value (whatever that means to you) for your firm? Which clients trust your recommendations, value your expertise and treasure your role as a trusted advisor?

You’ll want to trim the fat.

You can keep the clients that produce the greatest amount of quantifiable value for your firm.

Next, trim the list.

  • Which clients do you enjoy working with the most?
  • Which clients spend the most with your firm per mo/yr?
  • Looking at your clients, which practice areas are the most/least profitable?
  • Which practice areas have the greatest amount of expenses?
  • Which practice areas have the greatest amount of employee turnover?
  • Which practice areas have the lowest morale?
  • Which clients produce the greatest amount of referrals?

See where I’m going with this?

You can use a variety of metrics to identify the list of clients (across multiple areas) that you’d like to keep. Once you have the list of clients you want to keep, request an interview. Reach out to the remaining clients in your list and ask about your performance.

The bad news: It’s going to be painful.

The good news: You want it to be painful

You’ll want to ask clients how well you deliver on each of the following services:

  • Provides a clear indication of likely costs/works to fixed fee
  • Provides you with regular updates on progress
  • Explains charging system clearly at outset
  • Fully appreciate your needs and expectations when taking the case on
  • Personally responds to emails/calls within 24 hours
  • Is good at listening
  • Keeps to a timetable/avoids case dragging on
  • Demystifies the loss/makes it understandable
  • Explains range of possible outcomes based on previous experience
  • Empathizes with your situation
  • Treats you as a partner in the relationship
  • Provides a tailored service versus package solution
  • Proactively alerts ongoing clients to relevant legal changes
  • Retains a professional distance

Here’s why you want this interview to be painful.

  1. Even if it’s bad news it’s good news to know
  2. Bad news means your clients are willing to be open and honest with you
  3. Some good news shows you where progress is being made

This interview is the key.

This interview, when combined with the seven ingredients I mentioned earlier, means it’s extraordinarily difficult for competitors to poach your clients. If your clients leave you, it’s actually a step down.

This stops/prevents additional bleeding.

This gives your firm the stability it needs to retain a high percentage of your clients. What about attracting new clients? As I mentioned in the beginning, any new clients you gain, your competitors lose.

So what’s the secret to attracting interviews?

There’s a simple formula.

Education attracts, information converts.

The content I’ve shared with you so far is essentially information. Your understanding of your client’s problem, an irresistible offer or strong value proposition – it’s all information. This is great if you’re looking to convert new clients.

Here’s the problem.

Information doesn’t attract new clients, it converts them. This is precisely why so many attorneys struggle with business development. They’re sharing information when their clients are searching for education. How do you change things for the better?

Always be teaching.

In my previous post, [37+ Places For Lawyers to Get Published That Bring Value to Your Firm], I list 37 sources you can use to teach prospective clients. This draws clients in automatically. Here’s a brief recap of the sources and channels you can use to educate (attract) new clients.

Publishing sources

  • Guest posts (e.g. writing for other publications)
  • Radio + podcasts (e.g. appearing as a guest on popular shows)
  • Ebooks published and shared on other well-known sites/publications
  • Guest video content (e.g. appearing as a guest on popular YouTube and Vimeo channels and third-party video publications
  • Public Speaking at popular conventions, meetups, workshops, seminars and events

These channels are incredibly profitable when used on their own but the results compound quickly when two or more are combined. What about channels?

Channel types

  • Traffic. These are high traffic publishers, sites, radio shows or platforms that receive a gigantic amount of traffic. The more thought leadership you share with their audience, the more prospective clients see your amazing work and the more they’re drawn to your firm.
  • Authority. These are authoritative channels that boost your authority/prestige among other influential attorneys. Authority platforms produce greater levels of trust, acceptance and fee resilience among clients. They’re willing to pay the high(er) fees you request as a result of the authority you convey and the trust you’ve earned.
  • Prestige. A social hierarchy platform that establishes your position in relation to other attorneys/firms. Thought leadership on these channels confer prestige, exclusivity and appeal inherent to the publisher and transfers it to you. Write for the Wall Street Journal and you receive the authority and trust that comes with that accomplishment.
  • Partnership channels may not be high traffic but they’re growing and hungry for more. They value high-quality partners like yourself and they’re willing to partner up to produce more revenue and profit. With the right partnerships, you’re able to win new clients before they begin shopping. Command a large degree of trust which leads to greater cooperation from clients, partners, contractors and referral sources.

How do you get them to send you the prospective clients you need to grow? You use Peter Thiel’s value formula, which I’ve covered previously.

  1. Create X dollars of value for publishers and platforms (with clients).
  2. Capture Y percent of X.

How do you do that?

With education! You share outstanding educational content with publishers, platforms and partners, then you capture a percentage of that value (as traffic, leads and sales).

Makes sense, right?

These are the strategies elite firms use to attract, win and retain top-shelf, highly profitable clients. The same strategy you can use to build a stable, growing and successful firm.

Is stable law firm growth possible in today’s market?

Not only is it possible, it’s also a requirement.

The fierce, zero-sum competition we’re told is necessary actually isn’t. Your competitor shouldn’t be your focus. Serving your current and future clients is the focus.  

With the right strategy and tactics, you can protect your most valuable assets (talent + clients). The plan I’ve shared today is deceptively simple. Competition, while intense, doesn’t have to be cutthroat.

Educate to attract, inform to convert.

This strategy bypasses your competitors entirely. Place the focus where it belongs. With the right ingredients, you can create an innovate strategy and new lines of business for your firm. With this stable approach, you’ll find the fierce, zero-sum competition we’re told is necessary is now obsolete.

Try Bill4Time for Free

21+ Legal Industry Award Submission Opportunities for Your Law Firm

By Leave a Comment

award submission

No one cares about your award(s).

It’s the automatic assumption made by those without an award. Clients care about the results, the value you’re able to provide plain and simple. These extra awards, they’re simply the icing on the cake.

Have you heard this before?

Is it true that clients don’t care at all about the awards you’ve received in your firm?

The unsatisfying answer is, it depends

In the right context, legal awards can create the right amount of trust, goodwill, and opportunity. They often don’t because attorneys aren’t able to vet award publications.

Lloyd Pearson shares a quick heuristic/checklist you can use to assess award publications.

    • Pure spam
    • Real, but not reputable
    • Semi-reputable/pay-to-play
    • Semi-reputable with a free option
    • Reputable award but pay-to-play
    • Reputable, cannot be bought

See the difference?

Spammers are takers in disguise. They’re interested in stealing from firms. Then there’s a gradual progression of publications that are unknowns – semi-reputable firms that fluctuate between pay-to-play and free options.

Can we simplify this?

Absolutely. There’s a simple rule you can follow. Have you or your clients heard of the publication in question? This isn’t a complicated question. Here, take a look at these brands. Which ones are you familiar with?

If you’re a practicing attorney you’re probably familiar with of all of them.

Why is this significant?

There are lots of other reputable publications that you can use to create opportunities for your law firm. Why go to the trouble? Why put in the work to win an award when you could be winning more new clients? It’s all about credibility.

Awards change clients.

According to BJ Fogg, a researcher at Stanford’s Persuasive Tech Lab, there are four kinds of credibility.

  • Earned credibility: Your prospects have interacted with you and had a positive experience (e.g. you were helpful, experienced little to no errors, received expert advice, great client service, etc.). These prospects found your website to be both credible and valuable.
  • Reputed credibility: A referral from a 3rd party – family, friends, a co-worker, someone you know or unbiased reviewers who have had a positive experience with your website.
  • Presumed credibility:  Familiarity and assumptions – brands they’re aware of are more credible than brands that are unknown (e.g. I noticed you’re a Super Lawyer, I read your guest post on the ABA Journal, I listened to your interview on the Tim Ferriss show, etc.).
  • Surface credibility: A prospect’s subjective opinion of your firm, marketing materials or website (e.g. I like the design, this looks trustworthy, great content, this page is confusing, etc.) which is all that matters when you’re asking them to make a decision.  

Awards are a form of presumed credibility.

This isn’t equally effective with each and every client and awards aren’t a panacea for success. Rather, awards are effective when they’re part of a layered strategy.

Here’s what I mean.

Let’s say you’re asked to choose between these two firms.

Law firm ALaw firm B
More than three decades of experienceIn practice since 2002
Practice areas: criminal, family, bankruptcy lawPractice area: criminal law
 Avvo Rating 10/10
 Top 100 Trial Lawyer
 Super Lawyer 2006 – 2018
 ILTA Firm of the Year 2018

Which one would you choose?

If you’re like most clients, you choose law firm B. All things being equal, third-party validation (via awards) is a form of social proof. The words themselves aren’t as important as the message they communicate in aggregate. What’s the message?

You’re the very best their money can buy.

I’ve exaggerated this a bit to make my point. You have options. With legal awards, your firm has the chance to position itself as the premier option for clients. Layered strategy, remember?

So where do you start?

Step #1: Create a list of award submission opportunities

You’ll want to identify a list of submission opportunities you can use to position your firm. Your practice/focus areas determine the specific set of opportunities available to you. Here’s a short list you can use to get started.

Directory and award submission opportunities
AvvoImproving ratingsMulticultural Law top 100 
Best Law FirmsNominationNational Law Journal 250 
Best Lawyers in AmericaNominationOf Counsel 700 
Chambers and PartnersSubmissionSuper LawyersSelection process
Global 100 The American Lawyer (Am AMLaw 200) 
ILTA’s Distinguished Peer Awards The American Lawyer A-List 
Law360 The vaultContact
Lawdragon 500 and 3000ContactU.S. News Best lawyersSubmission
Leading LawyersSelection processWho’s Who LegalRecipients
Legal 500Submission  
Legal experts   
Martindale-HubbellGet started  

See rankings.io for a more comprehensive listing of award publications and directories.

Step #2: Outline award submission requirements

Each publication has its own set of requirements you’ll need to adhere to in order to be considered for an award. Some publications require that you contact them for more details while others list the requirements publicly. Take the time to research these requirements carefully.

The claim “no one cares about awards” is a myth

As we’ve seen, awards are a form of presumed credibility. They’re helpful heuristic prospects use to sort, vet and test the firms they’re considering. For most attorneys, the automatic assumption is that awards don’t matter.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Have your awards been earned? Is the award you’ve received reputable and recognizable? If you’ve answered yes to these questions your clients have a genuine interest in the awards you’ve won. Your awards communicate a simple truth.

You’re the best their money can buy.   

Try Bill4Time for Free

How To Use LinkedIn as an Attorney to Boost Your Firm

By Leave a Comment

How To Use LinkedIn as an Attorney to Boost Your Firm

It’s a powerhouse many attorneys don’t use effectively.

I’m talking about LinkedIn. When it comes to LinkedIn, attorneys are unsure about where to start. It isn’t because attorneys are unwilling or incapable of using the platform successfully.

It’s because they don’t know how.

Most of the posts on attorney LinkedIn marketing cover generic details. This information, while helpful, fails to produce the traffic, clients and revenue attorneys need.

LinkedIn is a two-edged sword

LinkedIn is a problem for many legal professionals. Instead of using LinkedIn to boost their careers or build their firm, these attorneys unknowingly sabotage their firm/careers.

Sabotage? That sounds like hyperbole.

It certainly seems that way until you see an inappropriate mistake like this:

linkedin inappropriate

LinkedIn has its own set of social norms and etiquette requirements. They also have more than 600 million users. It’s no surprise then that these social media faux pas occurs on such a regular basis. What is surprising is the fact that your career/firm can be hurt by a mistake made by someone else.

It’s unfair, but it’s an unfortunate reality.

Violate LinkedIn or social media etiquette and you endanger yourself or your career. Respond inappropriately to a mistake made by someone else, and the result may be the same.

Maybe it’s better for attorneys to avoid LinkedIn.

That’s certainly the easy way out but it comes at great cost. Facebook, is perfect for consumer-focused firms. If you’re a B2B attorney, LinkedIn is an outstanding way to connect with powerbrokers, influencers, kingmakers, and clients.

It’s business-to-business focused.

What specifically can you do with LinkedIn?

LinkedIn comes with a few significant benefits. The kind of details that make rainmaking simple, efficient and automatic.

    • Serve your clients, peers and the industry
    • Build authority, influence, reach and prestige
    • Connect with powerful allies
    • Build a stable platform that’s filled with prospective clients
  • Attract and convert those clients

Here’s the problem.

Most people on LinkedIn approach business development like this:

bad pitch

They lead with a self-serving offer. They’re not focused on adding value and they’re definitely not interested in getting to know you personally. They’re simply focused on extracting as much money (or resources) as they can from as many people as they can.

Here’s why most professionals fail to achieve any sort of measurable long-term benefits from LinkedIn. It’s their giving profile. Adam Grant PhD, Wharton professor, management consultant and author of the book Give and Take states there are three kinds of givers.

  • Takers are self-focused. They put their interests ahead of the needs of others. They try to take as much as they can from others while giving or contributing as little as they can in return. Takers know they’ll be rejected by most people so they use agreeableness to pretend to slip under our radar. This is how these fakers worm their way into our inner circles.
  • Matchers preserve balance. If you take from them, they’ll take from you. If you give to them, they give to you. It’s painful for matchers to receive benefits without reciprocating. When they encounter takers they’re quick to punish them and/or return the favor.
  • Givers. These people are altruistic givers who go out of their way to share their time, knowledge, resources, connections and support with those around them with no strings attached and no expectation of return. These givers come in two varieties: (1.) Selfless givers come in last. drop everything to help people all the time. (2.) Otherish givers are smart, strategic and wise about their giving.

What’s your reciprocity style? If you’re unsure, you can take the quiz here.

Wait a minute.

Why does your reciprocity style matter here?

I thought we were talking about LinkedIn for attorneys

Why are we focused on these irrelevant details? Each one of the LinkedIn benefits I mentioned earlier depends on one simple trait.

Giving.

That’s right, your reciprocity style determines the overall results you’ll receive from your LinkedIn efforts. The more giving you are, the better your results will be. The better you are at spotting takers (and fakers) the better your results will be.

This is essential.

If you’re a taker you’re far more likely to reject the strategies and tactics I’m about to mention. If you’re a matcher, you may find it difficult to achieve the level of results you’re looking for. The more you’re willing to give and serve, the more you get out of LinkedIn as an attorney.

This is the foundation, the most important component of LinkedIn.

Building your career/firm with LinkedIn

I’m going to assume that you’ve already completed the basic/generic steps needed to maximize your results. You have a high-quality headshot, you’ve completed and optimized your profile, added co-workers and colleagues, etc. Yes, these steps are generic but they’re also important.

You’ll want to choose the framework(s) you’ll use to build relationships. These frameworks give you the legitimate pretext you need to build a solid relationship with anyone and every one that reaches out to you.

Let’s take a look.

Framework #1: Teach the unaware

Education attracts information converts. Clients are drawn to education:

    • Addresses their problems
    • Soothes their fears
    • Meets their desires
  • Enables clients to meet their goals

Here’s how you use LinkedIn to create educational content that appeals to prospective clients.

  • Join LinkedIn groups. You’re able to join a maximum of 50 groups. You’ll want to join groups with tangential sources. If you’re a startup attorney, join startup groups. Are you a real estate attorney? Join investor groups/clubs. Tax attorney? Join entrepreneur, homeowner or real estate groups – depending on your practice area or focus.
  • Share content in your groups. You can approach sharing in one of three ways (1.) you share your own content exclusively (2.) you curate content from other thought leaders (3.) you share both original and curated content in your groups.
  • Syndicate content from third parties. Share content written on your website, as guest posts or thought leadership on other sites, or via platforms like YouTube, Medium or SlideShare and syndicate it to Linkedin Pulse. Share previously written content on LinkedIn in three places. (a.) direct to your contacts via your feed (b.) via the LinkedIn groups you’ve joined in step one (c.) Syndicate content via LinkedIn publishing.
  • Lead clients to you. You can use tools like Snip.ly to lead visitors back to your site, whether you wrote the content in question or not. You can share a link to an ultra-relevant landing page on your website so visitors can continue reading and learning because, remember, education attracts clients.

Framework #2: Protect the vulnerable

Have you heard of Krebs on Security? Brian Krebs is an investigative reporter covering cybercrime and computer security. He shares information on data breaches, data leaks and a host of other security topics. If consumers or corporations are in danger due to cybercrime, he’s the first to report it.

You can do the same.

This strategy depends largely on your practice area. Real estate, tax, and startup law are excellent practice areas. Why? Because these practice areas are evergreen. Clients in these areas need consistent help. Bankruptcy and criminal law, on the other hand, are temporary and transitional.

In an evergreen practice area?

Create daily, weekly or monthly alerts on a particular set of topics. Use legitimate problems and/or threats readers and prospective clients need to know about. You can outline…

    • Federal, state and local statutes. Updated legal precedents
    • Problems, threats, red flags, and important legal changes
  • Areas of neglect, blind spots, and consequences (experienced by others)

Do this well enough and you’ll have competition. That’s a problem because well enough means competitors have a chance. You’ll want to dominate the competition, but how? You take your content further than your competition. You can do this by:

    • Design: You create beautifully designed resources, reports and data that require more time and attention than your competitors are willing to spend to create their content.
    • Data: Your content relies on exclusive or proprietary data or data that are inaccessible to the public. You consistently have more data points than your competitors.
    • Depth: You offer readers a deep dive into the alerts you provide. You create content that’s comprehensive, answers reader objections, addresses reader fear and risk.
  • Drama: You share captivating stories and create stimulating emotional experiences. Your content triggers intense discussion and debate. Readers are secretly addicted to you and the (valuable) drama + education you provide.

Choose one area and you’ll outperform your competitors consistently. Two and only the most motivated will compete with you. Three or more of these criteria and you build an untouchable brand.

Framework #3: Bring professionals together

Are you a people gatherer? The kind of extraverted professional who makes friends easily?

Become the matchmaker.

When you become a matchmaker you gain ready access to the powerbrokers, influencers, kingmakers, and clients that boost your career, build your firm and generate revenue.

And the best part?

Connecting with other influential professionals turns you into an influencer yourself. Connecting people who can help each other is one of the most useful skills an attorney can have.

Even better, there’s more than one way to do it.

    • Introduce two people (professionals, prospects or clients) who can provide value to others
    • Introduce two influencers to each other
    • Introduce two people, but seed the relationship with an idea
    • Host an event (e.g. webinar, conference, speech, dinner) but invite influential and complementary partners
  • Nurture the relationships you spark with more connections

You’ll want to build a tangential business.

When anyone in your industry needs to connect with anyone else, they think of you.

This is a long term strategy.

Introduce people and organizations that can help each other. Give people what they want, seed the relationships with your incredibly valuable ideas, then track the positive results as connections, clients and revenue pour into your firm.

How does this turn into money?

You focus on giving. Work to create X dollars of value for each and every person you connect. Then, at a later date, capture Y value of X. This strategy isn’t as easy to control, but the rewards are pretty significant. This isn’t a one-off.

This is a lifestyle.

If you’re an extravert or you’re willing to connect with other people, this strategy is perfect.

The best part?

You can do this on LinkedIn or off. You don’t need to focus your time or attention on LinkedIn exclusively. In fact, I’d suggest that you take a different route.

Start the conversation on LinkedIn, end it in real life.

What does that mean?

Work to connect people via invites, requests, feedback or feelers on LinkedIn. Look for helpful connections that will add value. Then, create a plan to connect people off the platform – whether that’s via an email, text message, phone call, meeting or lunch.   

Always add value. No exceptions.

LinkedIn doesn’t have to be a two-edged sword

As a platform, it can create tremendous value for your business. You just have to manage the details.

LinkedIn is a problem for many legal professionals. Instead of using LinkedIn to boost their careers or build their firm, these attorneys unknowingly sabotage their firm/careers.

This doesn’t have to be the case for you.

Most attorneys aren’t sure where to start. This isn’t because attorneys are unwilling or incapable of using the platform successfully. They’re simply unaware.

You’re in the know.

When it comes to LinkedIn, you know where to start. Begin with the right reciprocity style, create the right frameworks. Use these strategies consistently and you’ll create the LinkedIn powerhouse your firm needs to win.

Try Bill4Time for free.

37+ Places For Lawyers to Get Published That Bring Value to Your Firm

By Leave a Comment

Bring Value to Your Firm

Business development is based on one important detail, value.

The more value you provide to those around you, the more value you’re able to capture for yourself and your firm. Here’s a common assumption many veteran attorneys make. They assume hovering is enough to close the sale.

Make your clients happy, then stay on the top of their mind. If only it were that easy.

Getting published creates value for your firm

When lawyers get published properly they’re able to reap significant rewards from their hard work. These benefits compound with time, creating value at the individual, firm and industry level.

  • Traffic. Authors receive a steady flow of traffic, leads, clients, and revenue due to the quality of their work. The more thought leadership your prospects see, the more likely they are to frequent your site/firm.
  • Authority. Thought leadership establishes you as a leader among influential attorneys. Authority produces greater levels of trust, acceptance and fee resilience. Clients are willing to pay the high fees you request as a result of the authority you convey.
  • Prestige. A social hierarchy that ideally establishes your position in relation to other attorneys/firms. Thought leadership confers the authority, trust, and prestige inherent to the publisher and transfers it to you. Write for the Wall Street Journal and you receive the authority and trust that comes with that accomplishment.
  • Partnerships produce revenue and profit. With the right partnerships, you’re able to win new clients before they begin shopping. Command a large degree of trust which leads to greater cooperation from clients, partners, contractors and referral sources.

Here’s the dilemma.

Most attorneys aren’t sure where or how to attract attention from publishers. They’re not sure how to use their thought leadership to create value for their firm.

Here’s how you do it.

You begin with (a.) your practice and focus areas (b.) a list of publishers that meet a set list of criteria and (c.) a firm understanding of the content they’re looking for.  

(a.) Practice/focus areas

Administrative lawAlternative dispute resolutionAnti-trust litigation
Appellate Aviation and aerospaceBankruptcy
Business litigationBusiness/corporate lawCivil rights
Class action/mass tortsConstruction litigationConsumer law
Creditor/debtor rightsCriminal defenseEmployment/labor law
Energy and natural resourcesEntertainment and sports lawEnvironmental law
Estate, trust and probateFamily lawFood and drugs
Gaming lawGeneral litigationGovernment finance
Healthcare lawImmigrationInsurance coverage
Intellectual propertyElection, campaign and political lawLobbying
Media and advertisingMilitary/veterans lawNonprofits
Personal injuryProfessional liabilitySchools and education
Securities and corporate financeState, local and municipal litigationReal estate
Tax lawTechnology lawTransportation/maritime law

Next, find the top twenty publications that meet the following criteria.

  • Publications with authority. Authoritative publications boost your value and prestige, providing you with a greater amount of influence and reach.
  • Publications with traffic. Publications like The American Lawyer, Law Technology Today and Trial Magazine are great examples of popular, high traffic, attorney-focused publications. You’ll want to reach out to popular publications with lots of unique visitors each month.
  • Publications with opportunity. These are specialty publications that provide you with opportunities to win new business. In-house counsel publications such as ACC Docket and Inside Counsel and are key examples.

Next, you’ll want to identify the publications, sorted by focus/practice area that meet these criteria. Here are a few examples of publications that are sorted by focus/practice area.

(a.) Publications

Business/corporate law

Business InsiderEntrepreneur magazineThe Wall Street Journal
Harvard Business ReviewTimeThe New York Times
Forbes

Bankruptcy law

Oblivious InvestorAfford AnythingDebt Roundup
Disease Called DebtFinancial SamuraiEverything Finance
I Will Teach You To Be RichNerd WalletIntuit Mint

Real estate law

HouzzBigger PocketsCREOnline
ZillowTruliaZipRealty
RedFinHome BayHGTV
Invest Four More

Tech/Intellectual property law

WiredArs TechnicaTechCrunch
MashableLegalZoomIncorporate.com
Recode.netGigaomEngadget
VentureBeatThe Next Web

What about industry-specific blogs and publications? Here’s a helpful list of publications for attorneys and legal professionals.

What if you’re not sure where to look? Here are a few ways you can identify the tools and resources you need.

  • Use BuzzSumo to search for top performing content in your practice area.
  • Search Feedspot for tangential categories that related to your practice or focus areas.
  • Create a keyword query in Google Alerts + a custom email address to receive automated notifications from top sites.
  • Use search operators in Google to identify top-rated publications that accept content from third parties (you). You can use the site name + keyword queries like “write for us,” “site:domain.com AND “guest post”

Make sure the publications you’ve received meet the criteria (e.g. traffic, authority or opportunity) stated previously.

It seems straightforward because it is.

Third, you’ll want to pitch these publications. Use simple rules of thumbs to maximize the results you’re able to achieve with these publications.

  • Follow directions. Many of these publications have a set of rules they’d like writers to adhere to. Find and follow these rules.
  • Value first. Give editors at these publications the value they’re looking for. These editors often receive 100 to 500 pitches per day. Your pitch should be valuable, focused on them, and concise.
  • Include the right details. Editors want to see your name, relevant headline ideas, previous work and any relevant metrics (i.e. social media follower counts). Give them what they need immediately. Be scannable and focused on their needs.

Finally, write an amazing article. When appropriate, include a relevant link to a related resource on your website. Once these visitors arrive, work to convert them to customers.

Published lawyers are more valuable lawyers

The more value you provide to those around you, the more value you’re able to capture for yourself and your firm. Getting published creates a tremendous amount of value for your firm.

You’re able to generate more authority, traffic, clients and revenue.

Most attorneys aren’t sure where or how to attract attention from publishers. They’re not sure how to use their thought leadership to create value for their firm.  It starts with your practice area. Find top tier publications that are oriented around your focus areas.

Then you serve.

With consistent effort, you’ll quietly become the rainmaker your firm needs to grow.

Professionalism and Social Media in the Legal Industry

By Leave a Comment

Professionalism and Social Media in the Legal Industry Jaliz Maldonado

Can you get personal on social media?

Sure, as long as you behave in a professional manner. It goes without saying that the rules of professional conduct still apply. It seems obvious, like it’s common sense, right?

It isn’t obvious to everyone.

Professionalism isn’t always as obvious to everyone

Have you seen this tweet?

Professionalism and social media in the legal industry

A well-known attorney with a sizable audience sends out this tweet. It seems to strike the right balance between personal and professional, dishing out appropriate levels of snark and humor. It’s a tweet that generates a few chuckles.

Until you see this:

Professionalism and social media in the legal industry 2

Awkward.

Many users on Twitter have accused this notable attorney of plagiarism. They’ve shared screenshots accusing the attorney in question of copying tweets from other (lesser known) attorneys and passing them off as his own.

Which immediately incites criticism.

The point here isn’t whether this attorney is indeed guilty of plagiarism (I’m not discussing this). It’s about professionalism. As a legal professional, it’s a good idea to expect your audience (e.g. peers, competitors, clients, general public, etc.) to be unprofessional.

It’s important to remain unfazed by your audience.

Your audience provides value and risk

When you’re using social media, you want to adhere to the rules of professional conduct. You’ll also want to make sure you avoid making a few easy-to-miss mistakes.

  • Inadvertently establishing an attorney-client relationship
  • Damaging your firm’s reputation and/or relationships with existing clients
  • Practicing law outside of your jurisdiction
  • Running afoul of rules prohibiting direct solicitation (of prospects)
  • Providing legal advice to prospects (not clients) without checking for a potential conflict of interest
  • Breaching confidentiality (e.g. inadvertently disclosing private, sensitive or confidential client information)

Dan Pinnington is director of the legal malpractice claims prevention program for the Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company. He’s outlined a list of legal pitfalls attorneys should avoid when posting or engaging with the public on social media.

  1. Don’t talk about clients or their matters. This violates model rules of professional conduct which states: “A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph.” This is fairly clear, right? Doing this may increase risk and liability on all sides.
  2. Don’t talk to clients about their matters. Don’t discuss your client’s matters on social media. These channels may have limited privacy settings (e.g. Facebook makes status updates public by default unless your privacy settings state otherwise) which affect your ability to communicate with your client securely/privately. This is also a violation of the rules of professional conduct.
  3. Choose your friends carefully. If you’re a litigator it’s unprofessional and possibly unethical to “befriend” judges, experts or other potential conflicts of interest. It’s also questionable to establish relationships with morally questionable people (e.g. troublemakers, people who court controversy, those with bad reputations, etc.). Choose your social media “friends” carefully as these relationships may have a lasting impact on your career.
  4. Respond and engage judiciously. You’ll want to respond to everyone in a friendly, kind and professional manner. When in doubt, follow the maxim be kind, be helpful or be gone. This is especially important when you encounter ragers, trolls, abusers, and manipulators. Maintain an appropriate professional distance with those you don’t know personally. Maintain a professional distance with those you know in a professional capacity. Work to keep your personal and professional lives separate.
  5. Avoid the unauthorized practice of law. Anything you post on social media can be accessed around the world. If your law firm is based in Kansas City you want to state the jurisdictions where you can/can’t practice law.  Post this in your social media profiles, website, email and other marketing materials.
  6. Don’t give legal advice online. There’s a big difference between providing legal advice and offering legal information. These two are not the same thing. What’s worse, the line between these two is often blurred. Be careful when you’re providing responses to very specific questions. Maintain an appropriate boundary, always focusing on providing information rather than advice. Avvo Q&A is a good reference point if you’re unsure about how to strike the right balance.

Here’s some additional advice regarding maintaining professionalism on social media.

  • Protect your identity
  • Avoid conflicts of interest
  • Know and respect the marketing related rules of professional conduct
  • Follow people who share common interests
  • Monitor/be mindful of your employee’s personal and professional posts on social media

It’s okay to be personable on social media

Just make sure you’re professional at all times. The professional rules of conduct still apply. It seems obvious but the examples I’ve shared above show it’s anything but.

Engaging with the public provides both value and risk.

Maintain an appropriate set of standards and you’ll find social media is a valuable and useful tool to build your firm and your standing in the industry.