I am frequently asked by lawyers I am coaching for marketing tools for their tool kit. Here is my Top 25 list of tools I have shared with them:
- Your plan – it is not the plan itself that is so important as the planning that goes into it. Time is a precious asset. Planning will help you use it wisely.
- StrengthsFinder–Knowing your top 5 Strengths will enable you to use your time most effectively.
- 90 Days Actions– Breaking your plan down into 90 days or 30 days makes it easier to get things done.
- Accountability Partner– Having an accountability partner helps you stay on task.
- A Journal-Keeping a journal is another way to be accountable and it helps you figure out what is working for you.
- Google Alerts, Twitter, Flipboard, Zite – all tools you can use to bring information about your clients, their industry and law impacting them to you.
- Blogging-One of the easiest and most effective ways to create a trust based conversation with clients and potential clients.
- Buffer and Hootsuite-Tools you can use to disseminate the content you create all in one place.
- Prezi–Great new tool to create presentations.
- LinkedIn-Confident that you know about this tool by now.
- Google Plus-I read that it is the second largest social media network in the world. I understand if you post your blog on Google Plus you get a boost in Google search for 24 hours.
- Your Target Market – I coined a phrase “if you market to everyone you market to no one”. One of the biggest changes in my legal career has been the move to more specialization. Seek to become the “go to” lawyer for a narrow market.
- Slideshare-The tool to upload your presentations and then make them available on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.
- Monarch stationary and/or cards – In social media, email and text era, handwritten notes are more important than ever. I had both firm ones and personal ones.
- Your website bio – clients look at this. Is your photo current and are you happy with it? Can a client download articles you have written or presentations you have given. Update often.
- Industry Publications– find out what your clients read and subscribe (e.g. All my construction clients read Engineering News Record).
- “Getting Things Done” – a book by David Allen that will provide ideas for you to save time. (I actually saw wood on the top of my desk for the first time in 20 years.)
- Youtube – If a professional shoots video of you presenting, edit it into short segments and upload to Youtube.
- Podcasts – take what you have written and record it into a podcast. Also consider interviewing thought leaders for your podcast.
- Your Elevator speech and Your Elevator Questions – you will inevitably be asked what you do. Have several answers on the tip of your tongue. Don’t just say I am a litigator. It is also important for other lawyers in your firm to have a clear idea of what you do so they can think how you might help their clients. Have elevator questions ready because, being candid, people do not care about what you do and they love to tell you what they do.
- Listening skills – this is the most important and most overlooked skill for us. Most lawyers are already thinking about how they will respond while their client or contact is talking. Learn to listen. Here are 10 Steps to Effective Listening
- Remembering names – Really important. Why are we so bad at it? (See 15 above). Here are 10 Simple Tricks to Remembering Names
- Focused Contacts– Joyce created an Excel Spreadsheet that enabled me to rank my contacts three ways so I focus on the most important ones. Read: Want to be More Focused About Your Contacts
- Follow up – many lawyers lose out on opportunities by not following up.
- Holiday cards-have become a modern day version of spam. Make yours unexpected and unique.