The 5 Biggest SEO Mistakes You’re Making
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys Blog
May 3, 2013

From friends and family to clients and prospects, we all have relationships that require some form of nurturing on a regular basis. Just like you know that giving Mary a dozen yellow roses on your first date is only one step in the courtship process, you also know that sending her one email (or one generic email campaign) is not enough to impel enduring trust and devotion. Nurturing is a long-term commitment. As in any relationship, lead nurturing involves more than simple delivery. It’s about communicating clearly and regularly, understanding and addressing your intended’s concerns, and establishing a cohesive bond over time.

Can you nurture prospect relationships via email? Absolutely.

Email campaigns nurture leads when they tell stories, allowing your prospects to get to know you and your areas of expertise. They avoid overt sales pitches, which is a major turn-off (particularly in the early stages of your relationship). Mary doesn’t want to know how much you charge to draft up a will – she doesn’t know you well enough to care about that yet. She would prefer to read about you and your team, learning about your proficiencies, and determining whether or not your firm can meet her needs. She does not want to be threatened with the overt expectation of an immediate response. She wants to be wooed with highly relevant content that speaks to her needs.

The more relevant your content, the more you demonstrate your commitment to the relationship. Make sure that your email databases are segmented by topic of interest and that your prospects receive exactly the kind of information that they yearn for. One of the best ways to ensure that your prospects get what they need is to let them tell you what it is they want – let them choose categories, topics, and other preferences when they subscribe to your email newsletter.

Do not confuse mere delivery for nurturing. In order for email nurturing to be effective, it’s all about the content: what is being delivered and how well it addresses your audience’s needs, priorities and objectives. The perceived relevance of the delivered content is the key to your prospect’s heart (and business).

Another way to find out if you’re sending out the best kind of content to nurture your subscribers is to track their activity. Use an email program that enables you to track click activity. For example, if Mary receives your general litigation newsletter, but she only seems to read articles about estate planning, use that data to update her member record so that she receives more information about estate planning than any other topic. Put her on your estate planning list to receive special offers, reminders, tips and strategies about estate planning. That shows her that you have noticed her interest (without her having told you), which will elevate your status and push your relationship forward.

Jazz up your standard email content to make it more compelling by incorporating a personalized note, great photos of yourself and your team, or link to one of your videos on YouTube or your website. Make sure that your email campaign is branded consistently so that Mary recognizes it as coming from you, but keep the content fresh and engaging so that she’s not bored by the same old thing.

But don’t stop there. Mary needs more from you than one-way communication, even if what you’re giving her is exactly what she’s looking for. Give her alternate ways to interact with you and get to know you better. Ask her to join your Facebook page, follow you on Twitter, connect with you on LinkedIn, sign up for a webinar, or fill out a prospect survey. Mary may prefer to see how you communicate with existing clients on Facebook before she takes the next step in your relationship. Or perhaps she wants to see and hear how you present estate planning strategies via a webinar before making a commitment to a face-to-face meeting. Allow her to communicate with you in a variety of methods by delivering options to her in your nurturing email campaign.

Prospects who follow you on social media or sign up for webinars are essentially winking at you. It’s their way of demonstrating a sincere interest in your content and a willingness to continue the conversation with your firm about a particular topic. Keep track of who your social media fans are, monitor which subscribers interact with which articles in your emails and newsletters, maintain an activity log on your hottest prospects (like Mary) and watch your metrics. That data will tell you when the time is right to give Mary a call and ask her to be yours.

Lead nurturing is a cumulative relationship-building process. This process consists of several components, including: 1) understanding the unique needs of your prospects, 2) communicating that understanding via educational content and demonstrating expertise, and 3) developing respect, trust and rapport.

As with any relationship, multiple communication methods used in combination are often the most effective. Use your email campaign as the foundation for your lead nurturing efforts, and utilize the data you glean from the campaign to integrate additional relationship-building behaviors as your prospects glide through the buying process.

Let the courtship begin.

Becca Fieler is an Online Marketing Specialist for BizActions, a Thomson Reuters Business, serving as a strategic partner in the planning and implementation of electronic communication and marketing initiatives. She develops and oversees comprehensive programs that present marketing strategies and solutions to diverse audiences, including attorneys, accountants, banks and credit unions, human resource companies and other professional service providers.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Since being introduced in 2011, Google+ has been alternately viewed as either the social network destined to usurp Facebook or a dismal failure that few people use. In truth, the real value of Google+ may not be tied to its number of active users or the level of their engagement, but to its ability to influence Search Results.

Google indexes public Google+ posts for search, in much the same way it crawls and indexes regular web pages. Your Google+ page, profile image and recent posts are eligible to appear on the right-hand side of search results when relevant to a search. Relevant posts can also show up within search results for your page’s followers.

Following these simple strategies can help you develop the search authority of your Google+ pages and leverage this powerful social network.

1) Optimize Your Page

Your Page Name, Introduction, and Tagline seem to rank especially well on Google Search, so be sure they are filled out completely.

• Page Name – Should be the name of your firm

• Introduction – Include a keyword-rich description of your firm and its services

• Tagline – Use a sentence or phrase to describe your firm, again keeping keywords in mind

Also be sure to include your address, phone number, and a link to your website.

2) Build Connections

Your content is more likely to appear in a person’s search results if they’re connected to you on Google+. Therefore, building Circles of targeted prospects is important in order to have your content found.

• Add a link to your Google+ page to your homepage and blog

• Encourage clients, prospects, and colleagues to connect with you by including a link to your page in your email signature and on all other marketing materials

• Leverage your presence on other social media platforms to drive traffic to your Google+ content.

• Connect with industry experts and engage with them by commenting, +1-ing, and sharing their content.

3) Share Great Content

Google Search places a lot of emphasis on new content, so it’s important to update your page with fresh material as often as possible. Share your latest blog posts, videos, press releases, along with online reports, seminar invitations and even entire web pages. Providing original content is great, but sharing other people’s links and posts is also beneficial. You can add value to your posts by:

• Using hashtags to make your posts search-friendly
  Just like Twitter, you can tag your Google+ posts. It’s a great way to get found — not only inside Google+, but in overall search results as well.

• Tagging people and brands in your posts
  Like Facebook, Google+ enables you to tag people and brands in your posts. It can be an effective way to connect with people and draw their attention to your content.

• Format your post to attract attention by using these shortcuts
       Bold= *Word*
       Italics= _Word_
  Strikethrough= -Word-

Google+ enables businesses to expand their online presence unlike any other social network. Developing a robust Google+ presence, enables you to directly affect the personalized search results of everyone in your network. It also gives you the ability to improve your search rankings, allowing you to be seen by even those not in your network or even on Google+. Surely, that’s worth some time and effort.

Rita Chaires
SEO and Social Media Manager
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Whether looking for a new dentist, contractor, plumber or even a pet sitter, millions of consumers visit Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List and other consumer advocate-oriented websites to read comments and reviews before making a decision. Even more consumers will ask their friends and neighbors for referrals – all because they need advice and want to avoid choosing the wrong person and wasting time and money.

With that in mind, consider joining many of the best seminar marketers in the country by personally inviting one or two of your best clients to your events. Be honest with them about what you’re presenting at the event and why you’d appreciate their help by either allowing you to tell their story or, better yet, allowing them a few minutes to recount their personal experience working with you.

A live testimonial can help you set more appointments and gain more clients than almost any other technique. Why? Because consumers are more likely to believe a fellow consumer when it comes to making such an important decision.

This isn’t a reflection on you as a consummate professional – an attorney with ethics and a passion for working with your clients to build a more secure estate and legacy plan. It’s leveraging the reality that word-of-mouth by a client carries more credibility in the eyes and mind of a potential client than all the awards and designations this wonderful business can bestow on us.

And if that isn’t enough, you can also use this as an opportunity to share new concepts and solutions to these clients that might not have been available when you last met with them. Call it cross-selling. Call it cementing an already-strong attorney – client relationship.  Just call a few clients and ask them to attend and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

Jorge Villar is President of Response Marketing Excellence (RME), with more than 26 years of direct marketing experience, he is known in several industries for his ability to create mail packages that garner the highest response rates. He is responsible for the Seminar Success program that, for the last 17 years has accounted for more than 65% of the events being held in the nation with over 14 million individuals making reservations. Mr. Villar has also been very successful marketing to physicians and business owners regarding Success Planning and Asset Protection. Response Mail Express, and parent company DME, is a $100+ million marketing powerhouse, housing over 600 employees in their 2 state-of-the-art facilities in Florida. Their marketing ideas are presently being utilized by over 10,000 clients, including: top producing advisors, estate planning attorneys, large financial organizations, health care organizations, universities and many other industries. Mr. Villar is a frequent key note speaker at national financial symposium and training conferences.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Attorneys typically use professional headshots in their email and social media marketing campaigns. Headshots are great and they certainly have a place in your marketing collateral (with submissions for a prestigious award, for example). But a very strong case could be made for replacing professional headshots with a variety of candid photos in your email newsletters, digital marketing campaigns and on your firm’s Facebook page.

How so, you ask? Candid photos tend to be significantly more engaging and immeasurably more relatable than that 7-year-old headshot with the blue background that you’ve used every time a photograph was required since the day it was taken. Candid photographs typically portray you in the best light, at least from a perception perspective: they appear to capture and anthropomorphize honesty, approachability, affability, trustworthiness, reliability, character, personal connectivity, strength, wisdom, personality, and most importantly, your “humanness”.

As the majority of us abhor having our picture taken, it is natural if you outwardly groan and squirm at the idea of taking not just one headshot every decade, but multiple candid photos on a regular, consistent basis for use in your marketing materials. Don’t despair. The candid photo process can be a very painless, and often pleasurable, experience. Not to mention that it can be done by anyone, regardless of budget or photographic experience. Candid photos are essentially free, minus the 20 to 30 minutes it takes you and your designated photographer to set up and take the photos. Smart phones take great pictures these days so an investment in an expensive SLR digital camera and tripod is not necessary.

Here are six tips to help you take some highly engaging, quality and pain-free candid photos:

Elevate The Angle: Ask the photographer to take the photograph from a higher elevation than your head – always have him or her stand on a chair before taking the shot if you are standing, or hold the camera higher than his or her own head-level if you are sitting and he or she is standing. This will eliminate any double-chin issues that even the sveltest of us experience in eye-level photos and will make you look as fabulous as possible. Absolutely avoid taking photos from below eye-level.

Dress For Photographic Success: Digital photography tends to make fabric patterns swirl and twirl and become slightly psychedelic. Avoid wearing jackets, shirts or blouses that have broad or dark stripes, flowers, dots, blots or circles, paisleys, geometrics, and especially plaid. Make sure that whatever you wear will look appropriate if cropped at shoulder or waist height (an off-the-shoulder blouse or sweater will make you look naked if cropped at the collar bone, so leave those types of clothes for the social scene). Bright colors (blue, purple, pink, red, green) work exceptionally well for all skin types and also help to showcase a bit of personality; if you don’t want to wear a bright color, go for a dark neutral color (gray, black, brown, navy) rather than a white or pastel color. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing the same clothes or not, but feel free to do a wardrobe change in the middle of your photo shoot if you wish.

Light It Up: If you need to bring in an extra floor lamp, desk light or other light to make the room brighter, don’t hesitate to do so. Try to avoid using the flash on your phone or camera if possible by adding ambient light to your photo shoot location. The most attractive lighting will subtly shine on your face from the above in the general direction your photographer faces you from. If your face is washed out in light, turn a light off. Try to have as much light from as many different sources around you as possible – this will make you look light and bright without washing you out, and will reduce unattractive shadowing on your face.

Shoot It Multiple Times: Take a dozen photos of the same or similar pose from multiple angles – have the photographer move the chair he or she is standing on a foot to the right and then a foot to the left. Turn your head without moving your body to look up to the photographer from each angle. If you are standing in your photo, try a few different poses each time the photographer moves to a new location: with your body straight on with arms by your sides in one photo, with your body slightly turned in another, turn your body the other way in another; cross your arms in one shot, place your hands on your hips in another, hold a briefcase or tablet in another, and adjust how you hold your head for each pose. You will likely be surprised at how a tiny change in your posture, combined with where the photographer is standing, may make on the lighting effects as well as the personality captured on “film”.

Keep It Clean: De-clutter your surroundings before staging your photo shoot. If you sit at your desk, tidy it up and put paperwork, pens, and other distracting items away prior to shooting. If you are standing, be sure you stand in an area that has very few visual distractions in the background, or, if there is a lot of “stuff” behind you (such as a bookcase or reception area), ask the photographer to use the “portrait” feature on the camera to have the background blurred while keeping your face in focus. Avoid standing directly in front of a wall (particularly if using a flash) or risk having a dark shadow directly behind you that makes your head look particularly large as wall shadows often appear like an extension of hair and are difficult to “edit” out.

Take It Outside: Consider taking one or two photos outdoors – your photographer can stand on a bench, on a staircase above where you are standing, or on a chair that you’ve taken with you for the photo shoot. Outdoor photos in front of your office building, in the nearby park, by your firm’s office sign and other locations out in nature are highly engaging (we tend to gravitate toward images that include plants, trees, flowers and other natural elements). Natural lighting is also frequently the most attractive for photographs, particularly on sunny days.

By following the above tips, your candid shots may turn out even better than professional headshots and will certainly have more applicability in your marketing efforts. Rather than having one photo that you use over and over again, develop a series of candid photos that you can manipulate and utilize in multiple ways – on your website, in banner ads for your newsletter, as profile pictures on articles you pen, as a personalized greeting in email messages, in your print marketing collateral, and on your firm’s Facebook page.

Becca Fieler is an Online Marketing Specialist for BizActions, a Thomson Reuters Business, serving as a strategic partner in the planning and implementation of electronic communication and marketing initiatives. She develops and oversees comprehensive programs that present marketing strategies and solutions to diverse audiences, including attorneys, accountants, banks and credit unions, human resource companies and other professional service providers.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

With 1 Billion unique users worldwide, there’s no disputing that Facebook can have huge marketing potential for your firm. However, as with any type of marketing, your efforts will only be effective if you follow best practices.  Growing your fan base will be easier if you avoid these common mistakes:

• Publish only self-promotional content
  

Promoting your own content is a great idea. Promoting ONLY your own content is not. The real value of social media is in the sharing of content and ideas, so make sure you’re sharing other content that your fans will be interested in. Not only will your fans find your page more interesting, but you’ll be establishing yourself as an industry authority.

• Publish text-only posts
  

Continuously posting only regular text updates will get boring fast, so mix it up. Post different types of content on your page – upload photos and videos, post links to interesting and valuable content, issue invitations to upcoming seminars.

• Automate all of your activity
  

Social media management tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer can make implementing a social media marketing plan much easier. However, avoid publishing all of your content through these third part apps.

Some studies suggest that posts that are automatically published via one of these tools have a lower Edgerank, which is an algorithm developed by Facebook to determine what’s displayed on the News Feed.

More importantly, you should be publishing timely content and responding individually to fans, something that’s difficult to do if you’re scheduling everything in advance using an automated tool.

• Never include a call to action
  

One of the easiest ways to engage your fans is to ask them a question. In fact, studies show that when you post an update and ask a question at the end, people are almost 50% more likely to interact with your content.

Asking a question isn’t the only way to encourage interaction with your content. Ask your fans to caption a photo, fill in the blank, or “like” if they agree with you.

• Only consider your fan growth
  

Watching the number of Likes on your page skyrocket is exciting, but it’s not the most important measure of your page’s success. Engagement is a much more significant metric.

Having more fans is useless if they never engage with your page. It’s much more valuable to have fewer fans that are regularly commenting, liking, and sharing your content. When those fans do engage with your content, their friends see your updates in their newsfeeds, so you have the potential to reach a wider audience.

• Don’t promote your Facebook page
  

What’s the point of developing a great page and posting valuable content if no one ever sees it? Encourage prospects to visit and like your page by making it easy for them to find it. Include a link to your Facebook page:

- on your website and blog

- in your email signature

- on your business card

- on all of your other social media platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, & LinkedIn

With a small amount of effort, Facebook can be a powerful marketing tool. Have you increased your engagement with your customers and prospects on Facebook? What strategies worked best for you?

Rita Chaires
SEO and Social Media Manager
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

“Hi, my name is Becca, and I’m a scheduling junkie.”

Over the past twenty years, I’ve come to realize the importance of scheduling in order to manage everything that I have to do. I live by my Outlook calendar, which I use not only as a To Do list but also as a tracking tool for what has been done and how long it took.

Some people look at my calendar and comment that it looks like it has thrown up. Having every day scheduled out from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with tasks, projects, meetings and appointments is instantly overwhelming to them. But I know that nothing will slip through the cracks if it is on my calendar, even if I have to snooze an appointment or move it to another day or time. I could not perform my duties as an Online Marketing Specialist without that level of organization.

I would probably miss a dinner party or two as well. If it’s not on my calendar somewhere, it may as well not exist.

Why should you care about my scheduling proclivities?

Firms can learn from my addiction to organization. My Outlook calendar is for my own personal use so that I stay on track from one day to the next. What you may not realize is that I take that kind of organization and use it to communicate our marketing plans to the rest of the team. I am in love with spreadsheets as much as I am in love with my calendar.

Like many firms with a robust marketing plan, we utilize several different strategies to get our messages out. We blog. We send out email newsletters. We engage in social media. We mail post cards. We attend conferences. We host webinars. We mass email important communications.

In order to plan, manage and track each of our marketing efforts, we utilize several Editorial Calendars (set up on spreadsheets) to lay out pending campaigns and messages. The spreadsheets are shared with the entire team through an internal website and are updated whenever things change, sometimes daily. Other marketing managers I know use programs like Dropbox to share and collaborate with team members.

How will spreadsheets help you stay on track with your marketing plans?

Aside from the benefit of keeping management informed of our activities and facilitating inter-departmental collaboration and communications, an Editorial Calendar is essential for any firm that participates in marketing. It helps you keep your content consistent, relevant and timely. It helps you plan your time (which saves you time). It also helps you communicate your efforts to all those who have the need to know.

You can start with a simple Editorial Calendar that simply tracks the date and content you are planning. Include all days of the business week and mark holidays in advance. Add your key dates, such as events, newsletter deadlines, email messages and blog posts.

If you want to take it to the next level, add a few separate Editorial Calendars to track specific content types and marketing initiatives. Keep all the spreadsheets together in one workbook for easy reference. Each of the tabs might include more details about certain activities that are listed on your master Editorial Calendar.

We maintain an Editorial Calendar for all six prospect newsletters we send out, as well as one for email messages scheduled for the specific target markets we serve, another for our client communications, and an additional one that shows the pending blog schedule. These Editorial Calendars not only help our marketing team members know how to plan their priorities each week and collaborate on themes and messaging, but it also informs our sales team about the subjects and topics being highlighted so that they are fully prepared for inquiries that come in as a result of our efforts.

Why would you want to become a scheduling junkie like me?

Using an Editorial Calendar will help everyone involved stay on track with your campaigns, avoid overwhelming your target markets, prioritize messages and tasks, keep your audience fulfilled and satisfied with quality content, help your teams collaborate and share ideas, and maximize your marketing efforts with streamlined, organized and scheduled activities.

Once you realize all of the tremendous benefits of uber-organized planning, you might become a scheduling junkie too.

Becca Fieler is an Online Marketing Specialist for BizActions, a Thomson Reuters Business, serving as a strategic partner in the planning and implementation of electronic communication and marketing initiatives. She develops and oversees comprehensive programs that present marketing strategies and solutions to diverse audiences, including attorneys, accountants, banks and credit unions, human resource companies and other professional service providers.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Congrats to Academy Associate Director of Education, Stephen Hartnett! Forbes just printed an article entitled, “More Estate Tax Changes Could Follow Fiscal Cliff Deal” and our very own Steve was quoted a couple of times in the article.
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/hanisarji/2013/01/06/more-estate-tax-changes-could-follow-fiscal-cliff-deal/)

When Members asked why we didn’t alert them to the publicity (which helps with their credibility), the answer was simple. We had no way of knowing the Forbes research team would use Google to gather opinions about this recent tax law change—and when they did, they found Steve’s timely blog on the very subject which interested them. (http://www.aaepa.com/blog/2013/01/fiscal-cliff-averted/)

1. We hope attorneys are able to read about law firm marketing, practice management, estate planning or elder law techniques and find the blogs valuable… and develop an interest in knowing more about what we offer attorneys excelling in estate planning.
2. But also, we want to be ranked by Google. So we try to regularly (3 times per week) write blogs that contain keywords that our future readers and future members may be searching for online so we are constantly introduced to more attorneys we would like to get to know.
3. And… what the heck, if journalists and writers around the country find us and quote us – there’s more publicity for Academy Members nationwide!

Just a reminder that if you’re blogging –

• BE VERY DISCIPLINED about the number of times per week you blog. Otherwise readers won’t get to know you; they certainly won’t be waiting for the next blog you have coming out.

• RELEVANT TOPICS. You won’t please everyone each time with interesting topics, but do try to provide information for which you want to become known.

• USE KEYWORDS. Make sure if your audience tends to search “Madison Estate Planning Attorney” you include those words in your blog, if your desired audience is likely to search, “Pennsylvania Probate,” make sure you have articles on that topic and you also find ways to mention the very words you expect prospective clients to use in search engines.

Jennifer Price
Chief Operating Officer
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

You’d have to be living under a rock to not notice how rapidly social media has grown. Over the past several years, many financial professionals thought that by diverting their marketing dollars to creating a social media strategy – including company pages on Facebook, blogging, eblasting, and banner ads – in the hopes of saving money while garnering motivated prospects. Unfortunately for them that bet didn’t pay off as well as they would have wanted. Why? Because there are certain subjects and issues that consumers don’t want to talk about on the internet.

In fact, according to Epsilon’s 2012 Annual Channel Preference Study, consumers (your prospects) made it very clear that their preferred channel to receive financial information is DIRECT MAIL.

Specifically, the survey found, “Marketers can take advantage of consumers’ resurgence and interest in receiving postal mail to help differentiate their offers and grab consumer attention to increase sales. In a digitally-focused world, a majority of consumers still prefer postal mail for a large portion of their multichannel diet when it comes to receiving information.”

The bottom line? This survey validates what I have been sharing with you for more than 2 years: When it comes to offering your services, they prefer direct mail because they feel like they are being communicated with specifically and intelligently.

When consumers (your prospects) speak – LISTEN!

About the Methodology/Survey

This report on channel preferences for the receipt of marketing information is based on the completed responses of 1,991 U.S. and 3,816 Canadian consumers to an online survey conducted in June 2012. The survey is representative sampling of U.S. and Canadian consumers. A 15 minute questionnaire was presented to respondents 18 years of age and older. Statistical significance is calculated at the 95% confidence level. Epsilon now has completed four surveys on the topic of consumer channel preference to generate trending data. The June 2012 research was preceded by an initial study in February 2008. That effort was updated in February 2010 and again in August 2011.

Jorge Villar is President of Response Mail Express (RME), with more than 26 years of direct marketing experience, he is known in several industries for his ability to create mail packages that garner the highest response rates. He is responsible for the Seminar Success program that, for the last 17 years has accounted for more than 65% of the events being held in the nation with over 14 million individuals making reservations. Mr. Villar has also been very successful marketing to physicians and business owners regarding Success Planning and Asset Protection. Response Mail Express, and parent company DME, is a $100+ million marketing powerhouse, housing over 600 employees in their 2 state-of-the-art facilities in Florida. Their marketing ideas are presently being utilized by over 10,000 clients, including: top producing advisors, estate planning attorneys, large financial organizations, health care organizations, universities and many other industries. Mr. Villar is a frequent key note speaker at national financial symposium and training conferences.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com

The title on this blog post was originally “Four Stories That Will Help You Sell More Services”. Do attorneys sell services? It sounds so tawdry. Ask any of your peers if they sell services and their unfiltered, off-the-cuff response will likely be “no” – until they think about it, and then grudgingly concede that yes, in fact, they do sell services.

Cringe if you must, but it is a fact that attorneys sell professional services. You must “sell” your expertise, your knowledge base, your ethics, your years of education and experience, your skills, your creativity, your ability to solve problems, your capacity for listening, your empathy, and your trustworthiness. When dealing with existing clients, where the bond has already been established, all you have to do is maintain the relationship. When you are actively seeking new business, however, it can often be particularly challenging to establish the necessary rapport to get a prospect in the door.

You have to tell a story.

In my last post, I discussed why stories are effective in marketing and sales. Incorporating stories into your marketing and business development will help you bond with your prospects, nurturing them and earning their trust. Trust is an essential step in the buying lifecycle, particularly when it comes to selecting a lawyer.

In this post, I review which stories will help you sell more services, earn you more business and boost your bottom line. Consider how you can thoughtfully incorporate these five types of stories that have been proven effective time and again into your marketing strategy.

Personal Stories

I started off this blog post with a personal story. Did you notice? If you’re still reading, it was at least moderately effective. One of the most successful ways to reach out to prospects and show them that you are their best choice for their estate planning needs is to profile yourself, your staff and your current clients in the form of a personal story. People respond to people, particularly if sincerity is palpable. Stories come in many shapes and sizes, so don’t be shy about recording one on video, jotting one down on your blog, drawing a cartoon, or sharing one on your Facebook page. Use first person whenever possible to establish that connection with your readers. Infuse emotion into the story so that your readers can relate and begin bonding with you on an emotional level. Anecdotal stories are frequently the easiest to draft, as the memories are yours. If story telling is new to you, start with a personal anecdote and go from there.

Success Stories

Success stories are just a twist on personal stories. Rather than using yourself as the main character, use your clients. They all have a story to tell – the story of how you helped them through a particularly painful situation. Success stories persuade, even when a sale is not the primary objective. While protecting your clients’ privacy, tell the story of their struggle. What was the issue? Why was it such a big problem? How did it affect the client’s life, business, family, perspective, financial resources, status in the community, relationships, reputation or success? Be specific. Be poignant. And then focus on the positive – the outcome, the success.

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies conducted a youth-oriented anti-smoking campaign that was highly effective because they used success stories that included the initial struggle to overcome the addiction. The ads evoked empathy in addition to fear. Empathy was the winning trait. “Personal testimonial ads rely on emotional appeals that may enhance message relevance and credibility… there is increasing evidence that ads using personal stories are effective.” If success stories can convince teenagers not to smoke, couldn’t they be used to convince your prospects to hire you?

Pop Culture Stories

Pop culture is a great communication starter. At parties, we meet new people and discuss celebrities, television shows, pop culture happenings, politics and other current events as ice breakers. Use the same ice-breaker concept to break into your prospects’ hearts and minds. Tell the story of a known celebrity who has experienced a similar pain point as one your prospects might be facing. There are dozens of tragic stories of wealthy Hollywood types who “forgot” to plan for their estate, or failed to maintain and update their plans that resulted in family feuds that lasted for years. These kinds of stories are fodder for a “don’t follow this example” story that might resonate with your prospects. Consider adding how you would have handled and resolved the matter had you been involved, infusing yourself and your product or service into the story. As long as your prospects understand that it is a hypothetical situation, you may introduce yourself as the would-have-been protagonist.

Historical Stories

Persuading prospects to consider you for their estate planning needs can often come with stories from times of yore. The historical story might take a bit of additional research, but the time spent collecting data to support your case will likely be worth it when you get new business from it. On the summer television hit show Franklin & Bash on TNT, the partnering lawyers have a reputation for using both personal and historical stories in their courtroom antics with tremendous success. Their behavior may not be traditional or conservative, but it is effective. They use stories in each case to persuade and connect with the jury. While these are fictional characters in fictional courtrooms, the show’s writers developed the characters’ behavior based on standard neuromarketing research – stories have an emotional impact and can generate the desired response if told properly.

The relationship between lawyer and client is a complex one. It is professional, yes, but there is a personal element as well. Perhaps this is due to the client’s need to divulge sensitive or intimate information. Perhaps is it due to the nature of the work. Regardless of the reason, prospects have to get to know you, trust you and maybe even like you before they take the plunge to hire you. Using stories, you will create a bond with prospects that will help you win their trust and their business.

Becca Fieler is an Online Marketing Specialist for BizActions, a Thomson Reuters Business, serving as a strategic partner in the planning and implementation of electronic communication and marketing initiatives. She develops and oversees comprehensive programs that present marketing strategies and solutions to diverse audiences, including attorneys, accountants, banks and credit unions, human resource companies and other professional service providers.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com