Looks like we’re all likely in this for the long-haul. Optimism about restarting the economy by Easter has given way to the reality that it will not be before May, and could be significantly longer. Schools across the nation are acknowledging that there will be no more school this school year. Layoffs are mounting. We’re in this thing, no matter how much hate and fear we bring to bear on the situation. So let’s make this time productive.
The new weekly legal marketing action challenge
Starting today, and every Monday until life and business returns to normal, I’ll be posting a set of weekly action items. My hope is that, in doing so, I might inspire attorneys who are stuck at home (or in a mostly deserted office) to use their downtime wisely and productively in a way that will position their firms for success when life and business get back to normal (whether the old normal or a new one). My suggestions will be around marketing and business development, and you’ll likely see some redundancy from week to week. This is because I’m going to suggest doing the fundamentals that we know work predictably well over time. All you need to do is follow along, and bring your winning legal marketing mindset, and results will come.
There will be attorneys who choose to follow along with my weekly posts, and challenge themselves to complete the tasks I outline each week. If you do that, I promise you’ll be in a much better situation going forward than those who do less. I will try to start with manageable asks that any attorney could do in a week even while working at full capacity. And then I’ll build in additional items each week. If you choose to follow along, you’ll not only be creating enduring legal marketing infrastructure and progress for you firm, but you’ll be providing future clients for whom the cause of their future need for your services hasn’t yet happened with the information they’ll need in the future when it does.
Best of all, you’ll be building your reputation as a leader in your area of practice, and you’ll be nurturing relationships that will result in referrals for years to come.
This week’s legal marketing challenge
So let’s get started with this week’s to-do list. For the week of March 30, 2020, I challenge you to do the following to ensure the future success of your law firm:
1. Write 3 Blog Posts: Write and publish to your firm’s website at least 3 blog posts, of at least 750 words each on topics relevant to your clients or potential clients. You can write these all at once, or space them out over the week. Depending on how fast you write, and how experienced you are with blogging, each post should take between 45 and 90 minutes, so you’ll invest between 2.25 and 4.5 hours in blogging this week. If you are a LawLytics customer and want help with logistics or topic selection, let us know.
2. Do 3 Social Media Shares Per Post: With each blog post, announce the post to a minimum of the following platforms: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you’re a LawLytics customer, the ability to do this automatically is built into your blog publishing window. If you need help with this, or want to make sure that your social media accounts are integrated and currently connected, please let us know. Assuming everything is connected, the announcements will take about a total of about one extra minute for LawLytics customers.
3. Read 10 Blog Posts by Other Attorneys: Pick 10 blog posts to read this week. This will give you an idea of what others are writing about and how they are writing. There’s no better fodder for one’s own blogging than reading other blogs. Note that not all examples you come across will be good examples, so read with a critical eye and ask yourself who is the post’s target audience, and is the attorney/author effectively communicating their message? If you’re a LawLytics customer, you can easily discover what fellow customer firm’s are writing using the built-in LawLytics Network. Take notes when you get ideas from others’ blog posts. This should take about an hour total.
4. Post 1 Blog Comment: Of the 10 blog posts that you read, pick one that is most relevant to your practice (but try to avoid picking a direct competitor), and write a thoughtful comment that adds to the information presented in the blog post. When your comment is published, it will create one additional point of exposure for you and your firm. It will reinforce the authority of the blog owner (because another intelligent attorney left a comment). It will also put you on the radar of the owner of that blog, which can create cross-marketing and referral opportunities (more on these things soon). If you’re a LawLytics customer and you discover a blog post that you’d like to comment on in the LawLytics Network, you can comment directly in the LawLytics Network to save the time of entering your information directly on their blog, and, when approved by the blog owner, your post will go live and contain a small picture of you and a link to your bio on your primary LawLytics website. This should take no more than about 30 minutes, and could take you as little as a few minutes depending on the depth of your comment.
5. Bonus: If you haven’t yet communicated concisely with clients and potential clients about it, create an additional blog post outlining how your firm is handing COVID-19. And, if you have the infrastructure in place, send a copy of the post to your client list (more on this in a near-future post about newsletters).
That’s it! If you can spare an extra few hours this week to get started, you’ll be taking your firm in a positive direction by creating marketing infrastructure that will continue to pay dividends for years to come. Check back next Monday for another weekly legal marketing challenge. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive and use this time you have productively.
