Marketing for Attorneys, Law Firms & Financial Professionals

Tax Clients Need PFP Advice

"A lot of folks are unhappy with their current advisors, justified or not, and will be open to the idea of changing advisors and going in a new direction," said marketing expert Mark Merenda, president of Naples, Fla.-based Smart Marketing. "Accountants are generally seen as cautious, conservative, prudent and careful with their clients' money. That's a perfect prescription during times of financial turmoil. I hear clients saying their financial advisors had them put everything into the stock market ... and now they've lost 30 percent of their investment. It's hard to imagine any accountant telling a client to put everything into the stock market."

You are Sitting on a Gold Mine:
What is Your Practice Worth?

"One of the leading marketing consultants specializing in advising and formulating marketing plans for Elder Law Attorneys is Mark Merenda of Smart Marketing, based in Naples, FL. Mark represents Elder Law Attorneys nationwide. He frequently states that solo Elder Law practices have little value when the attorney retires. He advocates a marketing approach that adds value to an Elder Law practice by increasing current revenue and, at the same time, increasing the resale value of a practice.

Specifically, Mark focuses on four components: branding, systems, gross revenue and redundancy...."

Top 11 Reasons Most Attorneys Don't Do Marketing

• Attorneys are trained skeptics. Marketing requires faith and patience. Attorneys like to prod and poke a marketing effort until they can prove to their great satisfaction that there is no way it can work.
• Attorneys love to argue. Most lawyers are smart. When it comes to embarking on unfamiliar enterprises, like marketing, they find it difficult to "be stupid" and benefit from the wisdom and experience of other experts.

Marketing to Many

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Over the years my clients and prospective clients have given me myriad reasons for not including seminars in their marketing efforts. Some business professionals tell me that "Seminars don't work" or "I've tried seminars in the past and I spent too much money without getting any results." Other people have told me they believe the seminar market is oversaturated, or that participants attend only for the free advice or giveaways.

The Power of Image

Lawyers are often uncomfortable with investing in their firm?s image. First, they see marketing in general and image in particular, as somehow "slick" or "deceitful." What should matter, they say, is how good an attorney they are. Not all this marketing stuff.

Scripting the Client Experience: How to Really Differentiate Yourself

And many attorneys spend a lot of time, energy, and money trying to convince potential clients that they are somehow different (read: better) than others who provide the same service.
It's a fool's errand, and I'll tell you why.

Developing medical-community referral sources

The last few years have seen a change in the estate planning market. The apparent determination of President Bush and the Republican majority in Congress to do away with the estate tax has made marketing estate planning more difficult.

Most estate planning attorneys know there are plenty of reasons ? reasons completely unrelated to tax issues ? that an individual needs to make an estate plan.

How To (Really) Differentiate Yourself

I'm always coming across articles and books by marketing gurus about how you must differentiate yourself from your competition. Their writing is usually peppered with advice on how to "position" yourself and "brand" your practice.

And many financial advisors, CPAs, attorneys, and other professionals spend a lot of time, energy, and money trying to convince potential clients that they are somehow different than others who provide the same service.

Don't Be 'Outcome Oriented' in Your Sales Pitches

Most attorneys hate selling.

For them, the preferred method of gaining clients is through referrals. That's because business that is referred to them comes, in effect, pre-sold. They have third-party credibility.

The same attorneys hate "tire-kickers" and people who shop and compare prices. They would rather that every prospective client walked into their office waving their checkbook, suitably grateful for the opportunity to sit down in front of such an august personage.

But in the real world, how do you sell that prospect in your office, however they arrived there? How do you "close" them?

The Top 10 Reasons Most Attorneys Don't Do Marketing

• Attorneys are trained skeptics. Marketing requires faith and patience. Attorneys like to prod and poke a marketing effort until they can prove to their great satisfaction that there is no way it can work.
• Attorneys love to argue. Most lawyers are smart. When it comes to embarking on unfamiliar enterprises, like marketing, they find it difficult to "be stupid" and benefit from the wisdom and experience of other experts.
• Attorneys are risk-averse.

Unplug The Phone Answering System

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Luddite. I love technology. If it weren't for technology, I'd be the owner of a small marketing firm in southwest Florida serving local clients and hoping not to go out of business every summer when the tourists leave. Instead I have a national firm with clients all over the country.

That said, I urge my clients not to use technology to the detriment of human contact and customer service. The telephone is one key area where I believe this is taking place.

Multiply Your Public Relations Impact

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When a consumer buys a product, he has a number of ways to evaluate the product. He can taste it, touch it, take it for a test drive, and return it if he doesn't like it. Moreover, when he buys the products, he takes control over it.

But when that same consumer buys a professional service, such as yours, he buys something invisible and intangible.

Gruesome Seminar Mistakes

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Seminars are still one of the most popular--and effective--ways of marketing professional services to the public. Despite claims that the public is sick of seminars or that the market is oversaturated, in my experience, the real reason for poor attendance and poor results is not the quantity of seminars, but the quality of the event.

Here are what I call the 10 most gruesome seminar mistakes. I could easily expand the list to 25 or 30.

Delayed Gratification

A crucial concept in marketing (as is in life) is that of delayed gratification.

Stick with me for a moment through a general discussion of this behavior, and it will become obvious how it applies to your marketing.

The ability to wait for rewards is a classic characteristic of anyone who is going to be successful.

Low Cost Marketing Ideas for Elder Law Attorneys

One of the requests I hear from time to time goes something like this: "Never mind the philosophy, never mind the talk about 'branding' and 'centers of influence' and 'the buying experience' -- just give me three down-and-dirty, low cost, anyone-can-do-it marketing tips for elder law attorneys."

Okay, here we go:

You Are The Tea

Imagine, for a moment that, instead of being an attorney, you are a pile of tea.

I'm fairly certain no one has ever asked you to do so before, but bear with me.

You are a pile of tea. Not a big pile. A few ounces.

Make A Difference Through Marketing

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Here is a marketing truism that many financial services professionals don't understand, or don't believe applies to them: If there is no clearly perceived, demonstrable difference between two products or services, then the most significant factor in the success or failure of the product or service is the marketing.

To better illustrate, consider this analogy?if your product is ketchup, it is going to be extremely difficult to differentiate yourself on the basis of any technical information such as the ingredients, or any results-based claims such as taste. As far as 95% of the public is concerned, ketchup is ketchup.

The only path for one ketchup to do any better than the other is through marketing.

Happy Accidents

I was at home enjoying a "Sopranos" DVD I had rented. After watching the episode, I scanned the special feature: an interview by film director Peter Bogdonavich (who plays a small role in the series) with the series' creator David Chase.

Bogdonavich asked Chase if he had planned certain nuances in the acting and filming of the show. "Not really," Chase said. "It just kind of happened by accident."

Bogdonavich went on to relate a conversation he had with famed director John Ford: "Ford told me 'All the best stuff in movies happens by accident,'" he said.

Welcome Matters - Marketing Your Office Daily

When you think of marketing, that is, if you think of marketing, you probably envision something that takes place outside your office: seminars, advertising, press releases, speaking engagements, and the like. But you might be surprised to know that some of the most important and effective marketing activities take place right in your office.

Most of us view our office almost exclusively in terms of its administrative function. The office is where the work gets done -- where we shuffle papers and joke with our coworkers.

"Anyone Can Do It" Simple and Inexpensive Practice Marketing Tips

One of the requests I hear from time to time goes something like this: "Never mind the philosophy, never mind the talk about 'branding, 'centers of influence' and 'the buying experience,' just give me a few, low-cost, anyone-can-do-it marketing tips for financial professionals."

Okay, here you have it.