Book Review Every Attorney Needs to Read to Stop The SEO Bleeding.
WHY AM I REVIEWING THIS BOOK?
As an attorney, trying to learn about marketing is like just burning your money. I don’t know about you, but I have been taken to the cleaners by more than one company claiming to be experts. A $4000 website design with no back links. $1400 a month which did keep me on top of Google but the conversions into clients was terrible. No help. No advice. And they even re-did my website. What is an attorney to do? We don’t know enough to have any idea of whether the advice is good and we are paying the right price. What is the alternative? Paying too much for leads. So in my quest to educate myself, I came across Andy while attending a Click Funnels event. He walked the stage for making a million dollars with his funnel. Guess he knows what he is talking about. But the cool thing is that Andy puts out amazing content for FREE! You can get his book for free and follow him on Social. He has new amazing tips every day. This is a must read for an attorney.
So here is my book review… only a teaser of the first 3 Chapters… to help you learn the secrets Andy teaches. Note, this a cliff notes… it is worth getting the book and reading for yourself. Plus, you need to know what else is in this book!
CHAPTER 1: The Secret to Getting More Law Clients
This Chapter starts off with a great testimonial that teaches the concepts Andy recommends. He then goes right into Law Firm Marketing Mistakes (You’re Probably Making). This talks about the traditional advertising sources… radio stations, local TV, phone book, SEO, pay-per-click, etc. Why is this not the most successful way? Because every other attorney out there is using it. This is called the Red Ocean… “Bloody waters full of sharks all feeding on the same fish…” There is nothing to distinguish you from any other attorney. When they see your ad, they get distracted and are off to something else. There is nothing for your potential client to really develop a relationship with you. Then the Google algorithm updates, they can’t find your again.
Follow up is key! You need to use the Rule of Three — three touches on average before you are associated as a brand with the product someone wants. What you are really searching for is Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA). There may be a few law firms out there that spend a ton of money on advertising as a Personal Injury Firm which probably have this image. But to me, they make me feel like they make big money for themselves as opposed to the client. BUT… if you can be seen as the expert in the field by giving them practical advice they can use immediately, now they have bonded to you and see you as the expert in the field. Someone they want to work with.
I discovered a long time ago that if I helped enough people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted and I would never have to worry.
— Tony Robbins
How do you do this? Value First. “It’s counter-intuitive, but value-first works.” Answer questions and provide value. Spend a bit of time everyday answering questions and providing groups, writing content, and interacting with members. This will help establish yourself as an expert. The key is to niche down. Find one thing they need or maybe focus on the people who might help your groups. When you show up and provide value first, you build a bond with people that traditional advertising can’t buy.
Offer a sample of your work… fix a small minor problem. This builds good will. Just because you answered a question does not mean they still won’t need a lawyer.
- YOUR VALUE IS PROPORTIONAL TO WHAT YOU GIVE
- People hire you because of the value of hiring you outweighs the price of hiring you.
“Invest a little time (not tons of money) to provide value, and you’ll become the most relevant lawyer your prospects know.” When you provide this value for free, your online following grows organically and this earned media is worth more than paid for media. Your expertise is your “superpower” and it can really help people (even if it does not seem like a big deal to you).
At the end of the day, no law client cares how big you are. As long as you help them achieve the outcome they want, they won’t even care if you work out of your friend’s bedroom.
CHAPTER 2: THE RICHES ARE IN THE NICHES
The secret is not your ads… it is targeting your niche! This part is not in Andy’s book, but is worth mentioning — We have to stop being door lawyers (taking everything that comes in the door as long as it pays). The truth is, we can’t serve clients to the best of our abilities if we try to serve everyone. So, as an example, I do a lot of family law. Truthfully, my superpower is with high conflict divorce cases. This is more my passion and where I feel I can make a difference. What Andy is teaching here is that… “specific expertise in the relevant legal field is the number one criteria people use to choose an attorney.” So being a PI attorney who services all kinds of cases… you will be like everyone else. But if you focus on brain injury cases, now you can be seen as the leader in the group. You won’t get only those types of cases, but you can distinguish yourself as a leader.
So first, we need to decide who will be our dream client to work with. This is often called an “Avatar”. Andy teaches to stick with this niche no matter what and keep providing incredible value. A good niche requires passion. The question to ask yourself is — do you have empathy for a particular group? This takes some practice on knowing your Avatar which is not expanded on in this chapter.
“Another criteria for a good niche is impact — both personal and financial.” Plus, you niche has to be able to pay you! The better you get to know this Avatar client, the more value you can provide to him/her.
CHAPTER 3: CHEESEBURGERS OR BROCCOLI?
What is the secret to marketing? Give the people what they want. How do we do that? ASK! The old adage is that people buy what they want and not what they need.
Do I need a cheeseburger? No, I need to eat the broccoli, but I order the cheeseburger off the menu because that’s what I want.
One thing about attorneys is that we have been an attorney forever (most likely) and we think we know what our potential clients/ retained clients are thinking. This simply is NOT true. Part of our problem is that we do not stop to think who are ideal client is (Avatar). The BIGGEST part is because we don’t ask. We have our spiel that we give… how the process works, what their case will look like for them, how we can help, etc. If our conversion rates are not great, it is because we don’t stop to ask what their fears are. What are their goals? We miss the opportunity to connect.
The truth is, clients don’t want to hear how great you are… they want to hear what you can do for them. We need to base our marketing on facts no what we think. We need to figure out what your clients want and then find more of them.
Andy has some great ideas for Ask Campaigns for attorneys. Here are your steps:
1. Post on social media… just like Andy suggests…
“I have been getting a ton of messages on Facebook from some members of this group asking how to… I already put out a free Whitepaper titled… , but I’m thinking of doing a free live video training covering this subject. Would anyone be interested in this?”
2. For each person that responds, message them a survey with the following questions…
Note that this can be a chat bot or a physical links to a survey. Surveys can be done on your Google page, in survey monkey, or other ways like in your funnel if you want to do follow up funnels.
- Do you want to learn about…? (best to use desire and fear formula) Ex. Do you want to learn more about maintenance and if you are entitled to get it?
- Do you want to learn about how to protect your house in bankruptcy?
- Are you interest in learning more about how to get divorced without losing custody of your children?
- Have you already started…? Ex. Have you already started the divorce process? Have you already filed for Disability?
I am going to put out a free resource and I want to make sure I cover all the topics you are interested in.
- What is the #1 think you want to learn about…? Ex: What is your number one question about filing bankruptcy? What is your number one question about dealing with a brain injury? What is your number one question about dealing with the IRS?
- What is your #1 goal regarding…?
- What else would you like to learn about…?
- What is your #1 fear about…?
- What is the #1 thing you want to avoid at all costs?
- What is your email so I can send you the free resource when it’s ready?
3. Make sure to target your niche… your ideal client. Only their feedback counts
4. Don’t treat this like an interview or make it too sales orientated. Don’t sell anything. They will come to you without you asking them to.
5. Email each person their free bait.
Finding people who are the closest to your ideal client at the stage of the process you are targeting is like striking gold! Don’t forget that your job is to ask and listen. BOTH! Take notes. Compile them in a single working document. You need a minimum of 10 people to have any kinds of results.
Andy says…”Again, you probably think you know what your niche would say word for word. In that case, confirm your suspicions. Wouldn’t it be great not to have to worry if you’re targeting the right people or if you’re giving them what they actually want?”
My favorite part of this section that Andy says is… “What works at the bar works for the Bar.”
Providing value is kind of like the dating game. Back in my single days when I hung out with friends at the bar, I’d always see guys hitting on girls. They tried so hard. It was pathetic. My strategy to meet women? Don’t take — give. I didn’t try to sell myself. I just provided value. I entertained. I was funny. Everyone felt at ease around me. And I did pretty well. Human nature doesn’t change, no matter what the setting. What works at the bar… works for the Bar.
Where can you find people?
- Your Social Media Group
- Other people’s Social Media Group…”I’m putting out a free resource and I want it to be super helpful for people who are… (going through divorce, filing for disability, have a work comp claim) If you could ask an attorney about…, what your #1 question be? Answer in the comments below.” ***** Note, you should probably reach out to the admin of the group before you do this and get their blessing. They may even ask the question for you which would give it more credibility and responses. Offer them the email addresses you collect or the survey answers.
- Past Clients… “I’m trying to create some free resources that will help people going through…. When you were starting out, what were some of your fears and questions?” Or “Obviously, you’ve been going through this, so you’re getting a lot of your questions answered. But there’s a lot of people out there who have a ton of questions. So, I am creating a free resource for them. Can you help me? What was your #1 question when you came in for your free consultation?”
- People you know who are your target market
- Local agencies who serve your niche. Combine your request with a reasonable donation and they probably will sponsor the survey.
Ok… so you have the tip of the iceberg. I can’t even tell you how many practical examples are given in this book. I have been following Andy for about a year and his stuff is so good I need to actually schedule a time during the day to listen to his content! So, if you are an attorney — and I don’t care your level of advertising budget or expertise — this is a must read book. This stuff is evergreen and won’t be the flash in the pan like you get on the internet or your SEO guy. The best part is if you are on a budget, you can do this stuff without spending ANY money or very little.
I hope you enjoyed this teaser book review. I love to share the awesome content I find with other attorneys. If the only thing you learn is the Ask Campaign and you implement it, the time you spent to read this article will be well worth it. Good luck!
