Speakeasy Marketing June 2018

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GROW YOUR LAW FIRM IN 2018

73-03 BELL BLVD. #10, OAKLAND GARDENS, NY 11364 | (888) 225-8594 | WWW.SPEAKEASYMARKETINGINC.COM | JUNE 2018

THE DEATH OF FREE CONSULTATIONS?

of potentials coming in from your website or print ad, it stands to reason that upgrading your call to action should give you the most marketing leverage. In fact, the call to action is the first thing we analyze when we take over a client’s website. However, instead of a call to action for a free consultation, I’ve designed, tested, and refined an alternate strategy over the last five years — and it’s far more effective. Based on documented results, this upgraded strategy is the best way to get potentials in your office who are eager to hear how you can help them and ready to pay you to solve their problems. If you want to know how to put this strategy to work for you, listen in as I reveal the details in Episode 109 of my podcast here:

I realize that is somewhat controversial to say, but after testing hundreds of attorney websites over the last five years, here’s what I’ve discovered: Offering free consultations is what’s known in marketing circles as a “call to action.” So if you want to dramatically boost the number

What do most solo attorneys and small law firms do to lure potentials into their office so they can try to convert them into paying clients? They offer free consultations. Most attorneys do this, so it seems like a reasonable strategy. Except it doesn’t really work.

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–Richard Jacobs

Published by The Newsletter Pro . www.NewsletterPro.com

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Business cards don’t have the same presence they once did. These little pieces of card stock were once a vital part of professional networking, but they’ve become more of a niche item these days. So, should we consider the business card dead? Not so fast! There was a time when it seemed that the business card was legitimately on its way out and social media was poised to take over as the business-connection solution. While some websites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, have become popular networking tools, they certainly haven’t rendered the business card obsolete. The business card provides a snapshot of your business to someone you may want to work with in the future. It’s an easy way to BUSINESS NETWORKING IN 2018 Are Business Cards Still Relevant?

information on your card isn’t clear, the card is useless. Only say what is necessary — name, profession, contact info, and a brief description of the service you provide — and leave it at that. Let your creativity shine . When you hand someone a well-designed business card — one that goes beyond a boring white rectangle — they keep it. Let your card reflect you and your business. Don’t be afraid to step out of the 2-by-3.5-inch box. Need inspiration? Head over to YouTube and search “Tim’s Novelty Business Cards” or go directly to youtube.com/ watch?v=r4IDLvwgDbU. You’ll be inspired in no time!

instantly hand someone your contact info — no fumbling around to find your smartphone or a relevant app. And that person will have a physical reminder of your name. But in 2018, your business card can’t be boring if you want to catch someone’s attention. It needs to convey key information in a simple, professional way while also standing out. That’s no easy task. Here are a few things to keep in mind when designing a business card: Have purpose . Before you order cards, decide how you will use them. Don’t invest in cards that are going to sit in a desk drawer for the next five years. Keep the design clean . The idea is to capture the attention of the recipient, not overwhelm them. If the

YOUR CHEAT SHEET FOR MORE REVIEWS?

If you’d like a copy for your office, it’s yours at no cost. Just go to the link below and download your complimentary copy right away.

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this simple two-step technique really is for quickly getting many more solid-gold reviews.

This is about as simple and easy as it gets, it’s entirely ethical and compliant, and you barely have to lift a finger to get the ball rolling. Just to be sure all bases are covered, the PDF shares a specific technique to screen out any unhappy clients to make sure you don’t get negative reviews. After your staff puts it to good use, I’d love to hear how it’s working for you. I wager that, like most of my clients, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how powerful

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10 MINUTES TO A HIGHER AVVO SCORE?

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Speaking of simple tweaks, there are five that you can make to your firm’s website to create a similar business- boosting effect. None of the tweaks change your site materially, but more people will be able to find you, more people will call or leave a message, and you’ll get more clients as a result. These tweaks will even help bring in clients from nearby cities you never get calls from (so far). The best part is these tweaks only take 30 minutes or so for you or your web admin to put in place. If you’re interested in learning more about these five simple tweaks, I recently put together a short guide that shows you step by step — with clear language and photos — how to apply these tweaks in about half an hour. You can get a complimentary copy over here:

The Avvo employee poked around his profile for about 30 seconds — while they were still on the phone — then she literally changed one little setting on his profile, and his score immediately shot up to a 9.1. Isn’t that fantastic? All from a 10-minute phone call and the push of a button. If you want to increase your Avvo score, it might be worth giving Avvo a quick call. Just 10 minutes is a small price to pay if they can tweak one little setting and raise your score that fast. It’s well worth it, in my book, because a higher Avvo score can quickly translate into more business. I love sharing simple little tweaks like this because they take almost no time to implement but make a significant impact on your bottom line.

Running a business is hard, but you know what’s even harder? Running a fake business. Front companies have been around since the early 1900s and have been steadily increasing in recent years. A front company is a business that presents itself as one entity but operates as another. They are usually set up by an organization with the intent of disguising an ulterior motive. In some cases, this is for good reasons. The CIA sets up front companies to give their agents legitimate backstories. In other cases, front companies are created to protect criminal organizations. Here are some of the latter. CASINOS Most businesses never get off the ground because they can’t find startup capital. You need these funds to pay employees, purchase operating space, and provide your service. In the case of the early days of Las Vegas, limited oversight and regulation allowed businesses to operate like the Wild West. Mafias could build casinos without too many questions about where the money came from or how much went through their operation. Racketeers could take funds obtained from criminal ventures, send them to Vegas, and claim them as house winnings. BARS Building a strong customer base is one of the toughest parts of any successful business. Well, when you can create customers out of thin air, you eliminate that variable. Before bars began to be regulated, this is precisely what made them ideal front companies. Bar owners could create invoices for patrons who never existed and use the cash from their hidden illegitimate practice to make these patrons appear real. SHELL CORPORATIONS The constant upkeep of a brick-and-mortar location can be a huge expense for any owner. But if your business only exists on paper, you don’t have to deal with any of those complications. This is one reason shell corporations make great front companies. Shell companies aren’t illegal by any means, but they can be used in illegal ways. Many criminal organizations use them to hide money from investigators or to make illegal profits seem legal. Operating a front company is hard because there is no shortcut to success. Truly successful companies achieve their missions through vision and values, not fronts. Integrity makes people resonate with a brand, and that’s one thing you can’t fake. ARE FRONT COMPANIES STILL BUSINESSES?

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REAL SECRETS OF ATTORNEY MARKETING LAW SCHOOL DARES NOT TEACH

2nd Edition

• Five new chapters, live chat, what’s changing for personal injury attorneys marketingwise in 2018, and more • Completely revised and updated for 2018 • Complimentary copy mailed or emailed upon request

Available on Amazon Kindle or by emailing rj@speakeasymarketinginc.com.

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THE DEATH OF FREE CONSULTATIONS?

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ARE BUSINESS CARDS STILL RELEVANT?

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ARE FRONT COMPANIES STILL BUSINESSES? YOUR CHEAT SHEET FOR MORE REVIEWS? 10-MINUTES TO A HIGHER AVVO SCORE?

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10-MINUTES TO A HIGHER AVVO SCORE? Today, we have a quick story about how one attorney improved his Avvo rating with a simple 10-minute phone call. This is something that I’ve heard many times now because it happens to quite a few attorneys. Apparently, this attorney’s Avvo profile wasn’t quite as high as he knew it could be. (I believe his score was 8.1.) So he called Avvo to find out why it wasn’t as high as he thought it should be. After all, he had already uploaded a mountain of content, so he wanted to make sure he got proper credit for it. Here’s the story:

YOUR CHEAT SHEET FOR MORE REVIEWS? Over the last few years, I’ve shared many different strategies and techniques you can follow to get more reviews. But I’m often asked which of them is the most powerful. So a while back, I put together a PDF that outlines the most potent method I know — and shows you how to implement it in two simple steps.

If you need more client reviews right now, then this single-page cheat sheet will do the trick. I highly recommend printing it out and handing it to your admin staff so they can work through it over an afternoon or two. It will make it easy for them to gather more — and higher-quality — reviews, and the influx of those new reviews will, in turn, help you attract more high-quality clients.

What happened next was amazing:

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