I’ve noticed a pattern with some attorneys and other service professionals. They can be classified as feast or famine marketers. What I mean is they repeat the following cycle in their business:
When business is a little slow, they start marketing. When business picks up, they stop marketing.
Instead, I recommend the “steady drip” method of marketing, so that the referrals and the clients don’t dry up.
The steady drip can include any or all of the following tools and techniques, which are all commonly known and readily available, but not always implemented consistently:
Live Networking Events:
The good old fashioned organized networking event at a chamber of commerce, or other structured networking group.
Social Media Events:
Online conversations with one or more people at the same time, held publicly with your participating followers/friends. There are also offline gatherings known as Meetups/Tweetups with your social media community, so you can finally put the virtual name and face with the live person.
E-Newsletters:
Sent via email to those persons who gave you permission to send it, or who subscribed to your newsletter. Be sure to send something of value, not something that is 90% self promotion. It should be educational, interesting, and helpful.
Blogs:
Rather than sending your information out to certain people you do know in an E-newsletter, Blogs are easily distributed to large quantities of people you don’t know by those you do know. A simple link on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn of your latest blog can be seen by your network, their network, and in the case of LinkedIn can also be viewed by people who are part of that community at large. The beauty of it is that it takes almost no effort to distribute the information and get it seen by large quantities of people.
Hand-written Notes:
Thanking someone for meeting with you, referring or introducing you to someone else, providing you with something of value, etc.
Calling to stay in touch:
I recently read a Blog by my good friend, Preston True, who talked about how intimacy is being replaced with efficiency in business, often to the detriment of that business. People still want you to take the time to check in with them, see how they are doing, and genuinely care about them. Sure, they may need your product and service too, but don’t overlook the relationship while also providing the product or service. Also, the call to stay in touch is separate from the call to ask for more business. They need to hear from you more often than at the annual checkup, business review, etc.
Engaging Websites:
With a call to action, and fresh content updated weekly or monthly. Not something that was designed 10 years ago. People need to see your latest Blog, E-newsletter, twitter stream, events, news, etc. Not just a list of services and a contact page. You want to give them a reason to come back, not forget about you within 3 minutes.
Presentations:
Showcase your expertise by doing seminars or talks for groups of people interested in your product or service. It’s an effective way to build credibility and get in front of a number of people at once. Attorneys and Financial Advisors often implement this strategy, but it depends on the type of client they work with and how they market the events, whether or not it is an effective strategy.
Other Ways to Keep the Clients and Referrals Coming:
I often recommend to service professionals the Book Get Clients Now, by CJ Hayden, because it was written specifically for them. Service professionals include attorneys, doctors, IT professionals, salon owners, massage therapists, and others who provide a service rather than a product.
The book is a great compilation of marketing tools, that are easy to implement and low in cost. The author approaches marketing like a menu in a restaurant and suggests you pick an appetizer, main course, and a dessert to focus on for your one month marketing plan. The next month, you can choose something else. This way marketing isn’t overwhelming.
You wouldn’t try to eat the whole menu at a restaurant in one sitting. Nor should you try to implement every marketing technique the same month. If you get one method going successfully, maintain it while adding in the others and before long, you’ll have a steady drip of marketing, referrals and clients.
POINTS TO PONDER AND SHARE:
1) What other marketing tools or techniques do you utilize effectively, which weren’t mentioned above?
2) Name a website or professional who really impressed you with their marketing technique and tell us what you liked about it.
3) Do you have a marketing challenge at the moment that you’d like some help with?
