Miami Legal Business Development | Branding | Law Firm Coaching | Paula Black

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Be direct. You never want to hear... "You talkin' to me?"

Identify your target market. I mean PICK one! No... You can't talk to EVERYBODY. You try and do that and NO ONE will listen. The message becomes so generic or watered down that nobody thinks you're talking to them.

So where do you begin? You narrow your focus... pick a slice of the market that you serve in your practice area. It maybe a segment of an industry, a group with a particular problem or green eyed children born to left handed women! Be the biggest fish in the smallest pond. Here are 4 strategies to put into place:

1. Speak the language of your target market. Use their terminology, refer to the things they do and they way they think. Doing this makes it very clear to your audience that you KNOW them... it gives you credibility. What would happen to MY credibility if I referred to your firm as a company? It would be out the window I'm sure!

2. Tell stories that are relevant to their lives. Not only does it connect you to them, but also stories are memorable. They are memorable because they conjure up an image and evoke emotion. When told well they are very powerful tools.

3. Let your personal brand shine. Give some considerable thought to what you want to be known for and make sure your writing reflects that, and YOUR personal brand will soon become clear to your target audience. Approachable... Attention to detail... A get it done kinda guy... All of these can be illustrated in your writing without having to come out and say those exact words.

4. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition... did I say repetition? Yes, that is what cements your personal brand into the memory of others, and believe me when I say... there is NO substitute for it!

You know how it feels when someone looks you in the eye and seems to be truly interested in YOU... it feels great and it creates a connection in a way that is exclusive. THAT, my friends is what these strategies will do for you. When you put them into action, soon it will be... "Oh my... you're talkin' to ME!"

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You have a conversation about someone... what are you likely to do? Google... find out more about the person. So when someone hears YOUR name and Googles you what will they find? 

• Your website bio? Is it up to date and does it speak to the type of work you are interested in doing?
• A few directories with your phone number and address? Big deal... so what if they can find your office!

Are you proud of what they will find? Perhaps not.

Be the driver of your Internet identity. What are you an expert in? What is your opinion? What is your advice? This is NOT YOUR BIO... it is what is inside your head! That my friend is what will be powerful for people to find on the internet. This will provide credibility and reinforce what someone has said about you. That YOU are a lawyer worth talking to!

Articles and blogs are the answer. Every single day you put it off... you are that much further behind. Just get going!

Black Pearl: Kevin O'keefe "explores the question whether or not the Internet is an accelerator of a lawyers word of mouth". Take a look.

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When it comes to business development what comes first credibility or visibility?  It's a bit like...what comes first... the chicken or the egg? 

I was coaching a client who has been consistent with her blogging and has been seeing potential clients for consultations. In the past six weeks she's seen six prospects that can be directly attributed to the blog; she landed two of them, was honest with another and told him that he doesn't really have a case YET (when other lawyers told him they would start working on the matter), spoke with two others that are raising the money and found that the last one was geographically undesirable. She has also been asked to be part of a panel discussion for an ABA meeting. I would say those are great results in record time!

She was a bit skeptical when I suggested she write a blog but now she has seen the power it can have. She was easy to find because her blog is very specialized... hence it comes up on Google searches. The potential clients have had the opportunity to understand her expertise because they have read her blog. What her blog has done for her is two fold... she gets credibility and visibility all in one.

We talked about what has contributed to her success...

• She had faith that my advice was sound... even if it was out of her comfort zone.
• She found a niche and loves it... you have to like the work.
• She loves writing; so she posts twice a week... you have to blog consistently.
• She said yes when asked to speak... take advantage of every opportunity.

Landing the prospect takes focus...

• She is extremely prepared when the potential clients come in for the consultation... a consultation is REALLY marketing at your best.

How can you connect with the prospect in a way that you establish TRUST? Everything you do should be in the interest of the client even if that means there isn't work for you at this time. When you do the right thing they will tell their friends and colleagues what a trust worthy lawyer you are... THAT my friend is credibility and is worth more in the future than a case you create today.

Black Pearl: Relationships Are Everything! Is a book by my colleague Mark Maraia, it's a great read that is full of pearls of wisdom. And YES... relationships ARE everything!

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*Special Friday Post

When somebody Googles your name, what will they find?  I had the privilege of speaking to the Young Lawyers Division of the Hillsborough Bar Association in Tampa, Florida yesterday... and I delivered them a bit of a wake up call.  Prior to the speech, I had Googled each of the attendees... and I had some news for them.  The good news was that 54% of them showed up on the first page.  The not-so-good news is that not many of the entries built credibility.  Many entries were outdated directories with incomplete information... some even displayed their previous employers.  The really bad news?  40% of them could not even be found on the first page of Google.  If I couldn't find them, neither could potential clients or reporters. 

So here is the exercise... open another window right this instant, and search for your name on Google. 

What did you find?  Did you find a link to your biography?  Did you find current, accurate information?  Or, like so many lawyers, did you find a combination of outdated directories and links that are not YOU? 

If you weren't pleased with what you found, then do something about it.  Why?  Think about it-- what do you do if somebody recommends that you contact a professional in another industry?  You Google them!  And that is exactly what prospective clients are going to do before they pick up the phone to call you.  It is critical that you dominate the first page with content about YOU!

So are you pleased with where you stand on Google?  If the answer is no, I have some good news for you: You can do something about it, and you can start today.  The first step is to download my free e-book, entitled "Be A Celebrity In Your Own World."  There you will find many of the same tips and proven strategies that I shared with the lawyers in Tampa.  They heard me loud and clear... and I'm sure many of them are updating directories as we speak.

Black Pearl: Set up a Google Alert for your name.  It takes less than a minute to set up, and you'll know what people are saying about you.

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There are 4 simple ways that you can dramatically increase your visibility-- and credibility-- in the circles you want to be known.

This week we asked: In the past six months I have:

Written an article - 51%
Given a speech - 19%
Made use of social media - 4%
Started a book - 0%
Done nothing to increase my visibility - 26%

My thoughts: It’s great that 74% of you have done SOMETHING over the past six months to increase visibility. It all ties into building your personal brand!

For those of you who have yet to read my E-book “Be A Celebrity In Your Own World,” I thought I would go over a few quick points in the 4-step plan. For more in-depth discussion, click the link in the Black Pearl below—it’s a quick and easy read.  For those who have already read it, I'm curious to know what actions you've taken since then and how you've seen your visibility improve.

• First, articles—write them on a regular basis and post them. If you post one article in 10 directories every week for a year and it’s picked up 4 times a week… that’s 728 content-driven spots on the Internet bearing your name and your expertise. Just make sure it gels with your personal brand.

• Second, speeches and seminars—Let your brand come through in person by forging face-to-face relationships. Create speeches from the content of your articles.

• Third, social media—no matter what you’re feelings on the subject you don’t want to be the only one left out. At the very least get your profile on LinkedIn, for the more social media-savvy consider a blog (more on this topic next week!).

• Finally, the book—it doesn’t have to be long, or even published by a major publishing house. It will give you instant credibility and is an incredible marketing tool.

The thing to remember with all of these strategies is this: do everything through the prism of your own personal branding. Make sure that everything that is put out into the world reflects the visual and verbal ideas that you’ve set up and that it speaks directly to your target market.

As my colleague Peter Russin of Meland Russin & Budwick said:

“One's ability to generate business depends in large part on reputation and visibility. Reputations are built via hard work and providing intelligent,creative, ethical, caring advice to clients. Visibility is achieved by being involved in professional and charitable organizations, going to public functions, and publishing well-written material.”

Black Pearl:  As I mentioned above,  download my free e-book “How To Be A Celebrity In Your Own World.” It’s short and informative and will spell out, in detail, the strategies I’ve covered in this post.

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You can’t have a brand without visibility. It’s rocket fuel for your marketing and business development efforts. We’ve discussed the importance of Google (if you haven’t yet, go Google yourself... you may be surprised what potential clients will see first), but there are many other options to increasing your visibility… and credibility.

Question of the week: What are you doing to increase your visibility?