Hook Your Ideal Client and Maximize Your Productivity with Steven Richardson
Law firm owners, particularly solo practitioners, may feel as if there isn't enough time to run their firm and practice law. Good marketing strategies are part of effective time management. It entails understanding what lead magnets to offer, how to automate your email newsletters, and optimizing your website to attract your ideal clients.
In this episode, Steven Richardson of Richardson Consulting Group and Richardson Law Firm walks us through his marketing techniques for content creation and email automation. We also discuss time and task management strategies, so you don't have to waste time checking your emails constantly.
If you want to improve your law firm's marketing strategies and maximize time efficiency, this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
- Learn how to increase website traffic with exciting content and lead magnets by following Steven's marketing advice.
- Discover Steve's ruthless time management system for getting everything done.
- Find out how to take control of your inbox and automate your outgoing e-newsletter to your target audience.
Resources
- Want to learn more about Steven? Visit his website now. You may also email Steven at [email protected] if you'd like to get an electronic copy of his books.
- Getting Off The Hamster Wheel: Transforming your Law Practice to Make More Money in Less Time Through Effective Systems and Marketing by Steven J. Richardson
- Download a free digital copy of Getting Off The Hamster Wheel: Transforming your Law Practice to Make More Money in Less Time Through Effective Systems and Marketing by Steven J. Richardson
- Hitting the Financial Reset Button: A Guide to Getting a Fresh Start through New Jersey Bankruptcy by Steven J. Richardson
- Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy
- Your World-Class Assistant: Hiring, Training, and Leveraging an Executive Assistant by Michael Hyatt
- Design your day using productive guru Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner
- Automate your emails using these tools: Keap, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign
- Try out the CRM made especially for law firms, Lawmatics
- Let QuickBooks handle accounting for your business
- Help your clients schedule their appointments with you easier through these tools: Microsoft Bookings, Calendly, Fantastical
- Maximum Lawyer Facebook group
- Manage your emails using SaneBox
Episode Highlights
Advice on Attracting Clients and Content Creation
- Use your existing referral networks to find clients if you've already worked with a firm.
Steven: "[Have] a mobile-friendly website that has good content, that has the answers to people's questions. Because a lot of times people are [not] ready to hire a lawyer yet, but they're looking for information about the situation. In that search, you want to be the one that they find, [and] relate to."
- People tend to google their questions, so writing a list of FAQs can help introduce your website to more people.
- For long articles, follow SEO best practices, including keywords and copy targeting your ideal client.
- When you're just starting, hire a college intern or anyone who has a good grasp of marketing to assist you with social media.
Steven: "If somebody else is doing [social media] for you, it may sound dry and calculated and intentional to get business, as opposed to just being friendly, [like] talking at a cocktail party. That's what social media is. It's kind of a fine line as far as delegating social media. You have to be careful."
Different Ways to Market your Product
- Steve has published two books, which he used as lead magnets. These helped him establish credibility and authority with his audience.
Moshe: "I've heard somebody say, "You don't need a business card if you wrote a book," right? A book is like the best business card out there. You just get it out, and it speaks for itself. The fact that [you] actually authored a book, it gives you credibility. It gives you authority, and it also provides material for your potential clients."
- To choose a suitable marketing tactic or platform, law firms must know their audience and how these people seek the services they need.
Email Marketing 101
- The biggest mistake in advertising is not including a call to action (CTA).
- A good CTA tells people how they can avail your services or, at the very least, give you their contact information so that you can advertise to them.
Steven: “A book doesn't have to be [200] pages. To save up all the time to [write] a book, your book can be 20 or 30 pages. A lot of the books on my website are less than 40 pages on a particular topic. It can be a five- or six-page report with some charts or information. It could be links to videos. It can be anything. It's something of value that somebody wants in exchange for giving you their contact information so that you can market to them.
- Set up a contact relationship management (CRM) system that enables you to automate an email campaign to your audience.
Steven: “If you're not in regular contact with them, sending out emails and email newsletters, something like that, they're gonna forget whose book they downloaded from where when it's time to buy, and maybe they go somewhere else.”
Experimenting with Your Marketing Techniques
- A big mistake is not tracking marketing goals or metrics.
- Look at the emails' opening and click-through rates to determine which subject lines or newsletter topics interest your audience.
- Everything that we do in our business is an experiment. Nobody knows what works until they've tried it and found out it does.
Time Management Hacks
Steven: “The biggest problem that people have with time is that they cede control of it to others.”
- Take control of your time by establishing a schedule when you're available to take calls.
- Use scheduling apps to set aside chunks of time throughout the day or week for specific tasks.
- Minimize context switching because interruptions can cause you to lose focus.
Steven: “You do the right task at the right time based on your own energy levels, and that can really free up time for you.”
Don’t Waste Time Constantly Checking Emails
- While checking emails may not appear time-consuming, the average person wastes four to five hours per week doing so.
- Set up an auto-response email to set the tone for your clients when they contact you. You won't be under pressure to respond immediately or fear losing them.
Steven: “Once you start, you don't have to do it all. You can delegate a lot of your stuff, and that frees up more time to think more strategically about your business, and think more towards growth and better marketing.”
Getting the Most Out of Your Executive Assistant
- Delegate emails to your executive assistant. Develop a process on how they should respond.
- To avoid confusion, have them introduce themselves in their emails and indicate that they respond on your behalf.
- For efficiency, you can instruct them over the phone on what you need from the client. This way, your assistant would be the one to formulate the email instead of you.
About Steven
Steven Richardson is the founder of Richardson Consulting Group and the Richardson law firm. He has been practicing law for over 35 years. He is currently a solo attorney with his own successful professional business for over 20 years.
Steven implemented ruthless time management, well-structured procedure, and systems to get work done. He leveraged automated marketing targeted to his ideal clients to bring in more business without spending more time doing so. He has also been coaching and consulting with other solo practitioners to help them get off the hamster wheel of disorganized solo law practice and into the practice of their dreams.
Want to learn more about Steven? Visit his website now. You may also email Steven at [email protected] if you'd like to get an electronic copy of his books.
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Author
Moshe Amsel
Author
Moshe Amsel the host of the Profit with Law podcast is not an attorney. As the owner of a successful accounting firm DreamBuilder Financial and Law Firm Growth coaching organization Profit with Law, Moshe has proven that there are better and different ways for a law firm to do business and be successful.
