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…
Is Seminar Marketing Dead?
By Kristina Schneider Do you think seminars are dead? I keep reading a lot of articles and marketing pieces coming out of companies that are promoting other internet-based services that keep stating that seminars are dead and an antiquated and outdated way to market your estate planning services. I laugh only because I know of several law practices that are regularly bringing in consistent new clients in each month using seminars. First, I think it is important to be honest with ourselves about the differences between estate planning and other areas of law (such as divorce, personal injury, DUI, etc.). …
7 Questions to Ask When Your Website Isn’t Working the Way You Want
By Foster Web Marketing If the website for your estate planning practice isn’t generating the leads and conversions you were expecting, it’s time to take a closer look at what could be going wrong. Your website is the hub of all your marketing efforts online. If it’s not doing its job effectively, you absolutely will struggle to connect with the potential perfect clients that are searching for you. The good news is that underperforming websites don’t just “happen.” There are usually cumulative, underlying issues impeding your ability to attract prospects—and those issues can be fixed! You just have to methodically…
A Conversation About Perceived Value
By Melinda Merk, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, AEP® (Distinguished) This time of year, we tend to see an uptick in estate and trust administration and guardianship cases. All too often, we see situations where the deceased or incapacitated person did their estate planning on the cheap, did it themselves or, worst of all, did nothing. Unfortunately, their families and loved ones are now bearing the added cost and emotional burden of a court-supervised probate or guardianship proceeding and other unintended consequences, which could have been alleviated had the proper planning and documents been in place, working with an experienced estate…
5 Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2024
By Foster Web Marketing If you take a look back at 2023, you’ll see a lot of change over just 12 months. Google’s algorithms and analytics evolved dramatically. Online behavior and user preferences evolved, too. AI technology rapidly took center stage, and lots of law firms rose or fell based on how willing they were to embrace all the changes. Overall, I’d say it was a year full of seismic shifts in the ways that estate planners market and grow their practices online! And, looking ahead, 2024 promises to be another year of significant transformations. Of course, we all know…
Should You Have a Full-Time Marketing Person on Your Staff?
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law We often espouse the importance of building your firm infrastructure with competent staff, adding first an executive assistant and/or paralegal, then an associate attorney, and then more staff. Having effective staff is the primary way to leverage your own time and output and increase your profit margin. But most attorneys overlook one particular key staff person when building their practice – – a dedicated full-time person to handle their marketing. Everything from making and confirming appointments to managing the…