By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Marketing – – particularly seminar marketing – – has come up quite a bit in recent weeks. From our May Ultimate Level event, to list serve discussions, to people randomly contacting me. It prompted me that perhaps it was time to take a break from the usual practice-building topic and put together an article on seminar marketing. Over the years, seminar presentations sure have evolved, from overhead transparencies, to slide carousel projectors to laptops and LCD projectors. But despite…
5 Best Types of Video for Marketing Your Estate Planning Practice
By Foster Web Marketing Video is an incredible tool for connecting with potential clients and encouraging them to reach out to your estate planning firm. It’s a powerful motivator on its own, and it’s a powerful force multiplier when you incorporate it into a healthy marketing mix. And it makes sense—video demands attention, enhances understanding, and builds relationships faster than text alone. However, not just any kind of video content will do. You need to be intentional about the kinds of videos you create if you want to see results from your effort and investment. So, today, let’s take a…
The Top 20 Seminar Marketing Mistakes (Part 1 of 2)
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Over the years, seminar presentations sure have evolved, from overhead transparencies, to slide carousel projectors to laptops and LCD projectors. But despite these technological changes, the fundamental rules of successful seminar marketing have remained the same. I learned these rules only after personally presenting thousands of seminars – – and making lots of mistakes – – so I thought I would assemble what I have found to be the “Top 20 Seminar Mistakes”, so you can avoid having to…
4 Things Google Says Your Estate Planning Content Needs to Do
By Foster Web Marketing What makes your website content “good” for marketing your estate planning firm? Why does some content rank easily at the top of search while other content suffers? While producing excellent content is one of the very best things you can do to drive new clients to your website from organic search, it’s also one of the most difficult things to get right. This leaves a lot of estate planning practices producing blogs, FAQs, and articles for their websites every month without a clear reason or strategy. Unfortunately, directionless content tends to be pretty directionless in attracting…
Tips to Maintaining a Positive Online Reputation
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach With the growing use of the internet, clients, prospective clients and professional referral sources will look you up online and learn about you before they decide to do business with you. So, you have to maintain a quality online presence, more than merely having a good website. You also must maintain a positive online reputation! First, let’s start with some basic questions: Have you ever Googled yourself or your firm before? Do you know that Yelp, Google, and Facebook create profiles for your business (even if you didn’t initiate one) and customers can leave…
5 Reasons Your Email Marketing Campaigns Aren’t Working
By Foster Web Marketing Email marketing has been around for a while, but don’t underestimate its value. It is still a cost-effective and direct way to nurture your active estate planning clients, promote niche services, and bring in new business for your law firm. However, for all the benefits, a lot of law firms end up frustrated with email marketing. They feel like they put a lot of time and effort into crafting and launching email campaigns, only to be disappointed by the results. If you’ve ever labored over creating a newsletter, campaign, or outreach email that didn’t perform as…
Blow Up Your Annual Client Maintenance Program!
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law In this article, I addressed the marketplace issues confronting estate planning attorneys, in particular commoditization of our “products” and increasing low price competition. One of the ways that I discussed to combat these issues is to emphasize how your “product” is better than your competitors’. Another way to differentiate yourself is to emphasize your “service after the sale.” When someone purchases a car, he or she wants to know what kind of service or maintenance program is available and what…
In-Person Seminars Are Back and Working!
(And You Should Ditch Online Webinars!) By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of seminar marketing. Seminars have been a tested and proven marketing staple for my law firm and many other estate planning attorneys for over 35 years – – if you do them right! Unfortunately, the pandemic forced in-person seminars to shut down. My law firm, like many others, adjusted by offering virtual seminars online. For a while, the virtual model appeared to work and…
3 Ways to Inspire Brand Loyalty and Stand Out From Your Competition
By Foster Web Marketing Most people don’t think too much about trying a different brand of pasta, and they probably don’t pay a lot of attention to the label on their socks. But those same people probably DO have strong feelings about something—whether it’s the make of the car they drive, the smartphone they use, or the running shoes in their closet. If it’s something crucial in your life that has to work for you without fail, it’s not unusual to develop a strong sense of “brand loyalty.” And it’s really not so different when someone chooses an estate planning…
The Most Effective Way to Handle the Price Objection
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law If you were to ask most estate planning attorneys to narrow down the most common objection most people have about moving forward with their estate planning, price would definitely be on the top of the list. With the influx of cheap, online and do-it-yourself estate planning, living trusts have become a commodity and people are more price-sensitive than ever. While price may still be one of the main reasons a prospective client may choose not to do business with…