The secret world of search engine optimization continues to baffle many that have retained the services of a professional SEO firm. You wouldn’t pay for a product if you didn’t know what it did, why do so many pay for the services of SEOs without any clue as to what they are actually doing? The answer is, the marketing of secrets.
Attorneys are one of the brightest groups people that are still looking for that “magic bullet” SEO strategy, technique, or company. They have been willing to invest big dollars in the various SEO mega corps. to get their websites to the top of the search engine results page. Most of the time, these efforts have been a waste.
Having success with lawyer internet marketing campaigns is much more about time investment than it is about technical know-how. The basic principles of implementing search engine optimization for your law firm are not too complicated to figure out. Instead, they are time-consuming. So, it’s not that hiring someone to do search engine optimization for your law firm is a bad idea, it’s just that you need to know what you are buying.
While some search engine optimization can be effectively performed by attorneys themselves, many others are better performed by experts in online law firm marketing. Even if you don’t completely outsource your law firm SEO, getting guidance and assistance is likely to make your efforts both more effective and efficient.
Deciding whether to outsource or not really comes down to a matter of time and money. Even if you know what to do, is it worth your time to execute these activities? Or, are these activities more economically completed by someone else? Many times, the hourly cost of hiring a law firm SEO is far-less than your own billable professional time.
There are really 3 considerations that must be made before your decide whether or not to hire a law firm SEO consultant. First, do you have the technical know-how to properly execute search engine optimization for your firm? Second, do you have the time to effectively implement these strategies day in and day out? Third, is the cost of your professional time more valuable than the cost of outsourcing?
Being a great lawyer and having success running your own practice do not always correlate. The skill set required to handle the business aspect of a law firm is different than that of practicing law.
I believe a critical skill for lawyers is the art of the sale. Often times sales is thought of in a negative light but the reality is that we are all in sales. If you don’t sell a product you sell an idea, a service, or yourself. Your law practice will suffer if you don’t consistently bring new clients in the door.
These are 5 sales basics that I think every lawyer should know:
1. Clients Don’t Walk In the Door Check In Hand – It would be great if potential clients walked in ready to pay you for the services they know they need. However, the reality is that they often aren’t sure what to do when it comes to their legal situation. Many will have questions, others are shopping with different attorneys, some won’t have the money, and so on. You need to be prepared to convince these people how you can benefit them and improve their situation. You need to explain what the consequences of NOT hiring an attorney may be.
2. Open Your Ears, Not Your Mouth – I think there is a false impression that the best sales people are the best talkers. In fact, the best sales people are the ones that learn to ask good questions and listen. It is impossible to sell someone without providing value. The best way to provide value is to understand what is valuable to your prospect. The only way to understand that is to listen to what they are telling you.
3. What Are You Going To Do For Them – A potential client is interested in one thing…what are you going to do for them. They aren’t really concerned about your law firm or even you. Their focus is how you will solve their legal issue. Learning how to effectively communicate this to a client is critical.
4. Network, Network, Network – The key to sales, especially in the legal field, is networking. Building contacts, relationships, and networks will lead to a successful practice. Ignore this at your own peril.
5. Refine Your Sales Systems – You need to develop systems at your firm for each aspect of the sales process. Think about how you want to handle incoming prospect, intake interviews, follow ups with potential clients, etc. Much of your success rests on your ability to be organized, persistent, and have good follow through. You can’t afford to be disorganized when handling your potential contacts and clients.
