Tricia Rightmire is an executive assistant for FWM’s sales team, and she’s been working with us for 10 years. Tricia is also the founder of Buffalo Stampede, a crowdsourced organization based in Kansas that supports various community projects.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The story behind how Buffalo Stampede started in 2012: Tricia shares how her dad always made Christmas special and how losing him made her want to bring that same joy to kids in her community.
How something small can turn into a full-blown organization that impacts an entire community: Tricia talks about how social media helped grow the group from just friends to more than 200 members across the country and how they help others throughout the year.
How easy it is to start your own community outreach projects: Tricia says “it’s staggeringly simple” to find something you’re passionate about, get your friends involved, and find ways to support your community.
How you can help Buffalo Stampede bring holiday magic to foster kids this Christmas: Tricia tells you how you can support the cause now by sending gifts or donations.
Click below to support the cause!
]]>LIST OF FEATURED PRODUCTS:
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Some people never wonder what they will be when they grow up, and for some, it’s just a given. If a family member is part of something steeped in history, you tend to want to follow in their footsteps and become part of that legacy.
Building and maintaining long-term relationships within your community and with your clients keeps you top of mind. Chris Russo, an attorney and long-time client from Rhode Island, said, “Cultivating and nourishing your existing clients is most important. It makes a difference when they’re comfortable with you.” Chris and Tom talked about how Kirshenbaum & Kirshenbaum is one of the oldest firms in the state and how marketing is critical to preserving your reputation.
Chris said, “Stay in your zone. Know your limitations.” Are you focusing your marketing on your strengths or trying to cover all the bases? Find out why Chris loves living in town rich in character and says clients continually refer friends and family to the firm.]]>
Testimonials are the glowingly positive statements people share with you about your law firm. And while testimonials are similar to reviews, they do differ because they don’t come through an independent website, like Yelp. Instead, testimonials are typically collected by you to be used on your website and in your marketing materials.
(Confused? Find out more about the difference between testimonials and reviews.)
Testimonials are a huge deal for law firm websites because they carry so much power to impress, assure, and convert potential clients and referral sources. They give people that are new to your brand a taste of the positive experiences others have had, and they can even create a subtle sense of “missing out” on something that so many other people are willing to say is great.
When you use testimonials well, you motivate more people to click, call, or dig deeper into what you have to offer. And you show them, in a concrete way, what you do for your clients and why you’re a good choice.
However, while hearing and reading testimonials about your law firm is great, you have to actually USE your testimonials in your law firm’s website design to make sure they can do all the above and more for you.
So, if you’re new to testimonials, or if you just want to use your testimonials better, here are some quick and easy ways to do just that.
Love these tips? Check out 7 Small Law Firm Website Design Details That Make a Huge Difference for even more quick ways to make your law firm website rock.
1. Get Your Testimonials Ready for Your Law Firm Website
Raw text and unedited videos aren’t always a great look, even if the testimonials hidden under the mess are superb. So, before you start flexing your testimonials on your law firm’s website, you have to get them ready to shine for you.
First, make sure you ask for permission to use the testimonial, especially if you make any small edits to the grammar or phrasing. Format your testimonials, so they look great on the page, and add a name, location, and photo if possible. Do what you can, within sensible and professional limits, to show that these testimonials are from real people and businesses that are offering sincere praise.
If your website and software include the functionality, make your testimonials modular! In DSS, for example, you can build your testimonials into panels and sidebar widgets that can be used over and over again. Even better, you can tag your testimonials by practice area, making it super easy to find and use a relevant testimonial when you need one.
2. Create a Testimonials Page
Once you have collected your testimonials, feature them on a dedicated “Testimonials” page on your website. Link to it from your homepage, and make it easy to navigate to from all the most popular and important pages on your website. Remember that reviews and testimonials are often the first things people look for when considering your law firm or visiting your website for the first time.
So, make sure they’re there and look great!
It is critical that those testimonials are clearly available, easy to get to, and collected in a way that makes sense and is easy to read.
3. Place Testimonials Strategically
Even if you have a dedicated testimonials page that you link to from your homepage, you should still use a few testimonials directly on your homepage. That way, those testimonials are working for you right from the get-go.
And, since lots of people DON’T come in through your homepage, make sure you place testimonials on all your most popular landing pages and posts. It doesn’t have to be hard! If your website is built on DSS, for example, you can easily set testimonials to automatically show on the sidebar or at the bottom of just about any page. Ultimately, you want your testimonials peppered throughout your website, so they’re always beaming that sense of trust and authority!
However, there is a little more strategy that you can apply to how you place your testimonials on your law firm website. For example, the right testimonial appearing near a contact form or offer can be a powerful motivator for potential clients. So, choose your best testimonials and use them at all the points where trust really matters. Any time you ask your reader or viewer to call you, request an offer, send an email, fill out a contact form, or act on some other call to action, there should be a testimonial nearby that shows you are worthy of that trust.
4. Incorporate Testimonials Naturally in Your Law Firm Website Content
Along with the above strategic placement, don’t forget to use testimonials in the text of your website. Naturally weaving a few testimonials into your landing page content, blogs, FAQs, and articles can add weight to what you have to say and convince readers that you’re the person to talk to about it. Testimonials can help illustrate a point, show that you get results, and lend more credence to your expertise.
Make sure that the testimonials you choose are relevant to the page and fit with the content. If a testimonial seems disjointed, irrelevant, or too sales-y, you could diminish trust instead of increasing it!
Ready for a Law Firm Website Design That Will Make Your Testimonials Glow?
The FWM design team has worked with lawyers and law firms for decades to build websites that are modern, functional, and ready to do what you need them to do. If you’re having trouble making changes to your website, attracting new clients online, or converting potential clients, then we know from experience that you’re not really getting what your law firm needs out of your website.
Looking for the freedom to use testimonials and other elements better on your law firm website? Give us a call at 888.886.0939, or schedule a design consultation with our team to discuss the possibilities.
When your family has lived and owned businesses in a city since 1885, your family name becomes well-known. If you decide to continue the family tradition, that history follows you around town.
The Frees family is a staple in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; generations have lived and worked there. Robb Frees, owner of Frees Insurance, said, “We understand the fragility of relationships, why they need to be maintained, and why you need to be honest.” Robb and his brother, Dave, an attorney, talked to Tom about how they’ve been doing business together since they were kids and how they were raised to understand what people around them want and need.
Dave said he was introduced in his shop class by the teacher saying, “If a Frees can make a buck, they’ll probably sell you something.” How have you used history and relationships to cement your standing in your community? Find out how Dave and Robb’s involvement has led to years of community support.
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The pandemic brought business to a standstill for a lot of doctors. Many shifted to telemedicine visits and looked for other ways to bring in revenue.
Email marketing is a key way to stay in touch with your patients, offer your services, and keep them updated on what’s going on in your office. Dr. Marybeth Crane, a Texas podiatrist and long-time FWM client, said, “Resiliency is what gets you through these times because this too shall pass.” Marybeth and Tom talked about how her practice used an email offer to their client list to make up for lost office visit income and how each doctor reached out personally via email to explain all the safety measures they put into place when the office reopened.
Marybeth also said, “If you don’t have a great website, you’re dead in the virtual world.” What marketing strategies do you use to stay top of mind? Find out how Marybeth’s ability to adapt and try new things has led to many years of marketing success.
Making Ghost Calls Work for You
By now you know it’s sort of a mantra with me: Inspect What You Expect鈩? This may sound ominous, but it’s not when you do it right. And getting it right is pretty simple…
Relationship Is Key
The educational portion of your business – the ongoing coaching and training you’re providing for your staff – must be based on relationships, communications, and sales. How you treat your internal customers (your team) is how your team will treat your external customers.
So, when you tell your team that you’ll be doing mystery calling, or ghost calls as we call them in our phone sales program, they won’t like it. Initially, they’ll be concerned, afraid, threatened or feel like you don’t trust them and that you want to catch them doing something wrong so you can get rid of them or lecture them. (Check the laws in your state regarding recording calls.)
Any of the above reactions are normal, and you should expect them. Don’t back off or get nervous; remember, this is your business, and you make the decisions. You’ve got to monitor your staff daily. The telephone is one of the most important sales and marketing tools in your business for prospects, clients, and referrals. Without the phone and good staff, in that order, you’ve got nothing! No matter how good you are, you’re done.
Ease into this process. Explain to your staff that ghost calling is a positive program to help them become sharper than ever, to do even better than they already are, to enhance what they’re already doing right. Notice what I just said: to enhance what they’re already doing right. That’s a better message than “We want to fix what you’re doing wrong” or “We want to correct your mistakes.”
Another way to ease into ghost calls to your own business is to have your staff ghost call your competitors. Intake specialist Anita found when she called a competing firm that empathy was totally lacking. This showed her how important it is to express concern for callers. Making ghost calls can help your team members prepare to receive their own ghost calls, all in the spirit of improving themselves.
Your Most Important Tool
We’re Talking About the “S” Word
Folks that aren’t hired to be hardcore sales closers hate scripts. They hate the “S” word because they don’t want to be phony, to lie or to sound like a robot with no feelings or empathy.
You don’t have to read the script word for word, but there are some very important words and sentences on your script for a reason. A script is a guide, a cheat sheet, a road map to guide you accurately to the next step while staying focused on what the sole purpose is: to close the deal.
Here’s exactly what we teach our students to do when it’s time to learn a new script. In fact, I do this myself. I use scripts all the time, but I don’t sound scripted.
- Get a recorder and read your script into your recorder three different times. Pick the best one, and then delete the others.
- Listen to the recording every single day a minimum of three times per day for 10 consecutive days. That’s while you fall asleep, while you’re on the treadmill, while you’re driving in your car.
- After 10 days, test yourself. If your intake calls are recorded, listen to them. Did you leap ahead? If you don’t have recordings, have one of your teammates do a difficult role-play with you. Also, record the role-play and listen to it over and over again.
Andrea is a paralegal, and she reported in her recent What I Learned (WIL): “Chris’s explanation helped me understand what we can achieve when we follow the script.”
Real sales athletes never stop role-playing or listening to their recordings or practicing new scripts. They do it daily to stay sharp, more often when they’re trying to learn a new script quickly. Try this, and you’ll lose your fear of the “S” word!
Feel free to email Chris Mullins, The Phone Sales Doctor for Intake Specialists Worldwide with any questions at: phonesuccessdoctor@gmail.com Office: 603-249-5878. Chris would also love to review some of your real call recordings. Remember to always Inspect What You Expect鈩?/p>]]>
There’s something wrong with most law firm websites. And, although it’s something that’s obvious to visitors and potential clients, it’s something that can be a little tough for lawyers to spot for themselves. On the surface, your law firm’s website design may be attractive and modern. You may think that it showcases all the best parts of you and your business. However, you might be missing the one important thing that really divides the best websites from the less-than-stellar ones.
What is that “special something” I’m talking about?
If you look around, you’ll see that most law firm websites out there are designed for lawyers’ egos, not for the consumer that’s being served. You’ll see the same ego-based designs over and over, with the same formula and same competition over who can shout the loudest about the highest-dollar case results.
It’s a huge mistake! And it really misses the whole point of what your website needs to do for your law firm.
Want to get granular about the design of your website? Learn more about the small details that go into a successful law firm website design.
The Big Picture: What Your Law Firm’s Website Needs to Do
Your website must make a connection with the clients and referral sources you want to attract. Instead of focusing on you and your accomplishments, it should focus on:
- Answering your perfect clients’ questions and offering solutions
- Empathizing with and speaking to your perfect clients’ pain
- Building trust with new visitors and showing the success you have given to other clients
That’s how you build online relationships that turn into real-life cases and clients!
Remember this: people buy from people they like. So, make your website less about your greatness and more about how you’ve used your expertise to resolve problems for real people.
By the way, don’t be afraid to be authentic and really show your potential clients who you are and why you do what you do. You don’t want a website that gives you a generic personality, just like all the other guys. Instead, your law firm’s website should facilitate real connections with the clients, contacts, and referral sources that matter the most to your business.
The Small Details: What Your Law Firm Website’s Design Needs to Do
To accomplish the big picture, you need to look into some of the smaller details of your design. You have to think about what your potential clients are looking for when they visit you, and you need to meet those needs at every turn. You want all those little touches that show you care about their experience.
This kind of care can be built into your law firm’s website design in a number of ways, including:
- Contact information. Don’t make it hard for people to reach out to you. Your firm name, phone number, address, and other contact information should be right in front of your potential clients when they need it.
- Device responsiveness. All kinds of businesses make this mistake with their websites. If your website can’t deliver a great experience on the most common devices and browsers, then it is designed to fail. This is something that WordPress templates are particularly bad about!
- Clear and intuitive navigation. If people can’t figure out how to get to the answers they want and need, they won’t spend a lot of time digging for it—they’ll move on to a competitor’s site!
- Personality. Like I said above, you need to be authentic, not generic. Ditch the “lawyer tropes” you see in everyone else’s website designs—the gavel image, the Scales of Justice image, the photo in front of the bookshelf, tough poses with arms crossed, etc. Instead, use your photos, videos, and even website colors to tell your story and welcome potential clients. And don’t forget to use your bio and office pages to build trust and show people what to expect if they hire you!
Of course, there is a lot more that goes into it, but that should give you a taste of the kinds of details that build up to a great user experience. It all adds up to a law firm website that is designed to SUCCEED.
Have you been wondering how to measure the success of your website? Are you ready to start fresh with a new design? Join my team for a website design consultation, or give us a call at 888.886.0939 with your questions.
Kia Arian is the owner of Zine, a marketing, design, and printing company based in Fairfax, Virginia. She specializes in direct-response marketing for attorneys and other business owners. She is a long-time friend of Tom Foster and creates a variety of print marketing materials for FWM.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why you should never give up because you never know what’s around the corner: Kia shares the story of how meeting Attorney Ben Glass changed her business—and her life
The rules of serendipity: Kia talks about the law of attraction and why all the relationships you form and the networking you do matters
The stories behind meeting and working with great marketing minds: Kia shares how she came to know and work with marketing powerhouses, like Dan Kennedy
Newsletter secrets everyone should know: Kia gives you the inside scoop on why print newsletters are so important and why your content strategy matters
How you can get the Implementation Map: Kia gives you access to her map that details the marketing journey from lead generation to conversion
There’s no shortage of SEO tools on the market, but FWM has one of its own. Matt Tate, business development strategist for FWM, said, “This tool has been simplified and made for people doing DIY work. This is the most focused one I have seen that really, really drives in the organic.” Matt and Tom talked about how the DSS SEO tool is a tracking and diagnostic tool that shows you how to improve your technical and page SEO, and how to rank for your selected keywords.
Matt said the SEO tool also analyzes internal links, backlinks, and toxic pages. What are you doing to improve your SEO? Find out what strategies Matt suggests you use to make the most of the SEO tool.
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This brand new format for local legal services has been around for years in other service industries. Cody Moulton, senior digital marketing strategist for FWM, said, “It would be foolish not to give this a strong consideration.” Cody and Tom talked about the extensive set-up process, including background and license checks, and how advertisers are only charged for calls to their office.
Cody says Google wants more people to use their services, instead of legal directories like Avvo and FindLaw. Are you willing to try a new form of advertising? Find out why Cody thinks this new ad format will help lawyers get more leads and more easily track its effectiveness.
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You need to create content that gets attention and draws people in. Michael Monteforte, an estate planning attorney in Massachusetts, said, “I like the content to sound like me. I want my personality to come through.” Michael and Tom talked about how he uses pop culture references and current events to get his message out there and start conversations with potential clients.
Michael finds ways to make his copy fun, but he also understands the importance of including real information and a strong call to action in his marketing pieces. How do you make your content stand out? Find out how Michael’s creative copy leads to new cases and referrals.]]>
Don’t just post the videos on your website; put them on YouTube, too. Sean Cuddigan, attorney and long-time client, said, “It doesn’t need to be something that’s perfectly filmed like you do for a commercial for TV.” Sean and his father, Tim, talked to Tom about how they repurpose content from their website for video scripts and set aside one day every quarter to shoot roughly 20 videos.
Tim and Sean say it’s really not difficult to do, and it’s pretty inexpensive. Are you creating videos for your website and YouTube? Find out how Tim and Sean’s focus on video marketing has led to thousands of views on YouTube and an increase in leads for their firm.
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You have to take action and make the decision to go all in. Mark Blane, a San Diego personal injury attorney, said, “Information-based marketing is critical.” Mark and Tom talked about how using book offers to provide in-depth information and the importance of knowing where your leads are coming from are vital parts of the “marketing symphony.”
Mark finds success in using book reviews to connect with his list on a more personal level. What do you do to make potential clients see you as more than a lawyer? Find out how Mark’s search for knowledge led him to where he is today.
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Those initial conversations are critical to your success. Chris Mullins, phone sales doctor for Intake Specialists Worldwide, said, “What you need to teach your team is every single phone call matters.” Chris and Tom talked about the importance of recording your calls, evaluating them, and making sure your intake team is showing empathy and really listening to your leads.
Chris said there’s no sense in spending the money on marketing if you don’t inspect what you expect. Do you listen to and review your phone calls? Find out why Chris says her coaching program is a marketing insurance policy.
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Many of us just think about accounting as a tool, but we need to understand the purpose behind it. Frank Lunn, president of Kahuna Accounting, said, “Our mission is to really help entrepreneurs utilize accounting as a system.” Frank and Tom talked about how his company helps business owners understand, align, and coordinate what’s important to them, their missions, and their visions.
Frank believes this is a more strategic way to use accounting to plan for the future. Are you using your financial reports to their full potential? Find out how Frank’s lack of interest in accounting led him to take a different approach in the field.
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Your ultimate goal should be to connect with people on a more personal level. Neal Schaffer, president of PDCA Social, said, “Podcasting creates a different intimate relationship that you don’t get on social media.” Neal and Tom talked about how podcasts are great for networking and influencing.
Neal said a weekly podcast keeps you top of mind, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Are you willing to go beyond your comfort zone to keep your marketing fresh? Find out why Neal thinks now is the time to start your own podcast.]]>
This time, however, they’re letting us know what they’ll be looking for and when the changes will go into effect. Jamie Kelly, director of marketing services at FWM, said, “They’ve given us the study guide before the exam, and let us know exactly what we need to do beforehand.” Jamie and Tom talked about Google’s core web vitals update, which won’t happen until 2021, and how it focuses on the more technical side of web development.
Jamie said the new update will focus on user experience and three factors relating to it: page load speed, page interactivity, and page stability. What can you do now to make sure you’re ready when the changes roll out? Find out what Jamie suggests you do to make sure your website doesn’t take a hit in organic rankings and traffic.
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Since in-person events are limited, many are turning to the internet for help and information. Scott Alperin, an estate planning attorney in Virginia, said, “Having a web presence is a great thing because it gets traffic in the door.” Scott and Tom talked about the benefits of website leads, as well as the importance of speaking with potential clients to explain that not every estate plan is one size fits all.
Scott said, “Many people say there’s more to this than I originally thought when I first called.” How are you using your marketing to open windows for potential clients? Find out why Scott believes casting a broad net with your marketing allows you to capture leads from more sources.
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