I write this issue of the newsletter after my return from a couple of weeks on holiday in the USA. Now I love the US, but this is the first time I've been there during the run up to the US Presidential election. The thing that amazed me was how negative the TV advertising for each candidate was. A scary thought for me was that in an OFCOM report into TV coverage of the 2005 general election, 38% of people thought political parties should be allowed to advertise. Thankfully, 54% were still against it.
My holidays always in involve golf. My wife and I both play. The excitement during this holiday was hitting my golf ball into a pond where this guy was hanging out. Take a look and the photo and you will understand why I just left the ball in the pond!
So, down to business. Our big news is that we have launched a brand new service. It's a full-on, in your office if you want us to be, marketing consultancy service. There is more on this below, and of course on our website. The timing for this service is perfect as the clever firms out there will be upping their marketing budgets and "marketing their way" through this tough market, not retrenching and consolidating.
You don't have to be psychic to know that in some areas of legal work, things are VERY tough. So in this newsletter I've tried to give you some ideas to save you some money, but you might need to invest some to save some, an idea to make you some money, plus a chance to win some money. There is also the usual round up of articles, sites etc. that might be of interest.
I hope you enjoy the selection of newsletter articles we have collected for you this month. If there's anything I should know about, please do let me know.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Regs….David.
01173250200
In this issue:
- Marketing consultancy service launched
- What are you doing for Christmas?
- Some ideas to save money, improve efficiency
- Caption Competition - £50 Amazon voucher to be won
- Client Retention via Email Newsletters
- Writing about yourself - what style suits your firm?
- Google PPC - Bidding on other firm's names
- The Funny Bit at the End - Where the hell is Matt!
Marketing consultancy service launched
This is a service that we've been wanting to launch for some time and in fact is a service that we do provide for some clients already, albeit in more of an ad-hoc way. However I'm pleased to announce that we now have a team of two highly experienced marketers on board to provide a full range of marketing consultancy services to law firms. The three are :-
- Bridget Cooper - ex-Marketing Manager for DMH Stallard
- Liz Granville-Sharp - ex-Marketing Manager for Bonallack & Bishop
We are now able to offer a full range of marketing services from strategic, budgetary and planning work, through to tactical implementations and advice. We can even offer an interim management solution if needs be.
What are you doing for Christmas?
No, no, no, that wasn't an invitation to come to my house, but I thought you might be interested to see what we are offering our clients in terms of "seasonal greeting" type messages to their clients. We have everything from simple, image based email cards, customised email cards and website changes to sophisticated Flash animations and even some GREAT Flash based seasonal games, one of which even I find particularly addictive!!
Save money, improve efficiency
Having already said that, smart firms are increasing their marketing budgets, not cutting them, there are of course some areas where you might be able to do things smarter in your business and save some money. Here are two ideas that might help :-
- Simply Personnel - Are you still using spreadsheets to track employee absences, record CPD hours, coordinate interview schedules, and manage other important HR systems tasks? If you are then you're putting your job and your organisation at risk. Personnel software reduces these risks by seamlessly integrating everything into one HR system. Software costs start from just £600 for a 50 employee firm.
- Dictate2U - D2U are an outsourced dictation transcription business. There are no setup fees, no minimum contracts, and you only pay for the time you talk. If you are looking to save on support costs, then this might be an option for you. They even have a free trial available.
- Digital Meeting - Would you like to enhance your "green" credentials, as well as saving money on travel and expenses? If so then looking at a conferencing system like Digital Meeting may be the thing for you. They even have a 300 minute free trial running.
If you do contact either firm then pleas mention that you heard about their service via our newsletter.
Caption Comp - Win a £50 Amazon voucher
Just a bit of fun during these tough times. We're having a caption competition based on the photo on the right. There is a £50 Amazon Gift Voucher to be won for the best entry. All you need to do is fill in the simple form to enter. Competition is judged by yours truly, not that that necessarily helps you unless you think you understand my sense of humour!
Client Retention via Email Newsletters
When times are tough, having an existing client base to work with has got to be more preferable than continuing to try and attract new clients don't you think? One of the most cost effective ways of maintaining regular communication with clients is via email newsletters. Buying in printed newsletters typically costs around £1.50/newsletter for 400 or so from the packaged newsletter providers, but you can send an email newsletter for less than £150 and send it to as many clients as you like, not just 400!
We have a new tips booklet titled "30 Secrets to Successful Email Marketing for Law Firms" that you may wish to download as we believe this is something you should be doing.after all you are reading this aren't you.or perhaps you aren't!!
Writing about yourself - what style suits your firm?
Having a great website is clearly a reflection of the way your present your brand to the outside world. An important part of this is the way your write about your firm on the site. There are many styles that firms adopt when we work with them on a new site, but let's face it, most law firms write about themselves in a fairly conservative, perhaps even staid way. However, I came across this website the other day http:/www.chappellpascoe.com and laughed so hard I cried. Have a read of the "Hello" column on the home page, then the Why us? page. I love the self-deprecating style that they have adopted.
Google PPC - Bidding on other firm's names
You may have missed the fact that earlier this year Google has announced the lifting of a ban on one company buying the right to use another's trade mark to trigger its own advert. That means that when someone enters Manches (an Oxford law firm) into Google, Henmans (another Oxford law firm) could pay to have their Pay Per Click (PPC) advert displayed.
This means that law firms may now have to bid against their competition just to get their name visible in the PPC ads. The good news is that for most law firms, when you enter your name in Google you come No.1 (If you don't come No.1 you might need our SEO services!). There's a great article about this on the Out-Law.com website, and you can read the full Google policy.
The Funny Bit at the End - Where the hell is Matt!
This is it, this is what the internet was made forwell that and for law firms to advertise themselves
