LOCAL LAW SOCIETY Annual Conference 2011 30 th March 2011 David Clarke Email david@dbs-uk.co.uk www.dbs-uk.co.uk 0800 046 1870
Cost effective, low maintenance income generation using e-solutions David Clarke Email david@dbs-uk.co.uk www.dbs-uk.co.uk 0800 046 1870
An overview of DBS Established 1986 in USA Established 1996 in UK Awarded Investors In People Standard in 2004 Google AdWords Certified Partners Google Analytics Professionals Members of local chamber of commerce Team of 9 Split into 3 broad areas Web Design, Internet Marketing, Telecoms numbers
Google success stories #1 0800 numbers #1 Mezzanine flooring #1 Car battery #1 Car batteries #1 Contest a will #1 Solicitor Telford #1 Solicitor Shropshire #1 Solicitor Surrey #1 Solicitor Barking #1 Solicitor Grantham #1 Solicitor Lincolnshire
2 main LLS income streams Membership ranges from 40-75 CPD big competition from national law society
Today we will cover How to get your web presence right and get traffic How to interact with members and potential members through email and social media
What s in it for me? You will learn how to: grow your membership make more revenue from CPD
How to get your web presence right Basics Clear navigation Anyone can find their way around the site easily know where they are on the site (breadcrumb) easily get back to where they were
How to get your web presence right Basics 3 clicks rule Any page on site is never more than 3 clicks to navigate to
How to get your web presence right Basics Simple url s work best www.anytownlawsociety.co.uk/cpd rather than... www.anytownlawsociety.co.uk/?2346744s_ht4 easy to remember better for printed material
How to get your web presence right Basics Uncluttered avoid confusion and fleeing visitors
How to get your web presence right Basics Strong imagery A picture paints 1000 words Few people read all of the content on a web page
How to get your web presence right Basics Accessibility & compliance Standards compliant Alternative stylesheets Access keys Changing the text size
How to get your web presence right Basics Interactivity and calls to action Ask a question Arrange a callback (SMS) Download report/white paper
How to get your web presence right Basics Prominent contact details ideally top middle and bottom of web page
How to get your web presence right Basics Content Unique Compelling Constantly changing Consider blog for news & articles
How to get your web presence right Roadblocks to search engines Sites 100% in flash Robot text left in by developers Same page title and same page description throughout
How to get your web presence right Roadblocks to search engines No site map
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... Survey of Surrey Local Law Society members was carried out to see what features they wanted on their website find a solicitor CPD quarterly magazine download email alerts
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... find a solicitor by solicitor name law firm name postcode can integrate with Google maps good reason for membership one new client pays lls annual fee
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... CPD 16 hours CPD most solicitors do 30-40 CPD year runs from Nov 1 st to Oct 31 st Some people wait until the last minute so good strategies are to: Time an html newsletter (more later) for September to get the stragglers Put on general courses that anyone can attend at the end of the CPD year
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... CPD devote a page or section
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... CPD optimise page Page title Page description H1 heading
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... CPD manage your cpd profile online view courses attended hours logged book and pay for cpd online booking is not in real time
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... Quarterly magazine download upload a pdf of magazine via cms members download pdf allow sign up from all pages
How to get your web presence right Good features to have... Email alerts promote CPD and social events fill courses 3 rd party system or through website
How to measure the traffic to your website Google Analytics Key performance indicators: unique visitors
How to measure the traffic to your website Google Analytics Key performance indicators: traffic source
How to acquire, grow and use your database Acquire ACT, CRM software, Access or Excel basic fields: name, firm, email build a profile for flexibility and targeted mailings eg courses attended, hours used, specialities Law Society free quarterly, database of local law firms - next release May clean your own database
How to acquire, grow and use your database Grow use data from web forms newsletter sign up white paper download
How to acquire, grow and use your database How to use your database entice non-members to join give added value to existing members always on tip of brain integrate bookings with database for Amazon style marketing straggler emails if minimum CPD hours not logged last minute emails to boost attendance
How to acquire, grow and use your database How to use your database Traditional method 20 page printed and bound course catalogue mailed out
How to acquire, grow and use your database How to use your database Halfway house post out card with CPD course dates and titles that drives recipients back to website
How to acquire, grow and use your database How to use your database 100% E-solution html email tweet facebook post
How to interact with existing and potential members through email Email marketing tips Email marketing efforts should drive traffic to most relevant page Link from email back to relevant page What are html emails?
How to interact with existing and potential members through email Email marketing tips Branding should reflect the landing page
How to interact with existing and potential members through email Email marketing tips Avoid images in top left hand corner - OK to use small logo Use subject line and headline wisely
How to interact with existing and potential members through email Email marketing tips Don t send newsletters via your own email account Use reputable 3 rd party email solution Have realistic expectations of opening rates Gives advantage of tracking stats
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Strengthen ties with members Pass on news instantly to people who are interested in what you offer Attract more members and CPD attendees based on the principle: your friends are different to your friends friends Be seen as an early adopter Let s look at what is on offer...
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Easy set up just user name & password required You are the author of your own page - can add messages, photos, video and links Groups, companies and organisations can set up a business page and invite likes as opposed to friends likes see any posts that you make when they log on to their facebook account and are notified by email If your likes have an iphone, Blackberry, Android or similar phone they can be alerted by email when you make a post
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients You are in instant, constant touch with people who are interested in you and what you do Facebook can be used to your advantage commercially to promote specific events, services and offers such as CPD courses can appoint more than one facebook page administrator Because of the way social media works you will be exposed to a much wider market place than your clients due to the principle of your friends are different to your friends friends Be creative in acquiring facebook likes
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Create an account Max 140 character tweet Search for your members, people or topics that interest you When you visit someone s twitter page you can click on a button to follow them. Similarly people can follow you If your followers have an iphone, Blackberry, Android or similar phone they will be alerted by email when you make a tweet and vice versa Use twitter to encourage as many people as possible to follow you Notifications of tweets are sent instantly to your followers hand held devices or PC s so one tweet can go to thousands of people
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Use tweets to promote specific events, services and time related offers such as CPD courses Smart twitterers add a link to their tweets. Why? Gives followers the opportunity to click on the link to your website Every tweet should be seen as a way of driving traffic to the site
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Smart tweets sell the sizzle not the bacon eg:
Customise your twitter page to reflect your branding... Twitter page have several basic profiles or skins But you can customise your twitter page...
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Google is now starting to add tweets in its search engine results!
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Use Ping FM to save time... Create an account & whenever you make a post it feeds into facebook and twitter...
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients Valuable referral network Tweets feed into it Put logo and links on email letterhead
How to use social media to engage, win and keep clients You would be fairly early adopters My guess is numbers of likes and followers would be low initially You might feel you are tweeting to no-one or, worst still... Tweeting to the converted - followers are competitors rather than clients and prospects Takes time and effort to build a social media network but can be done in 10-15 minutes a week Adding facebook posts or tweets that are blatant sales messages will not add value and over time you will lose your happy band of followers Tweet about all articles and news. Always add value!
Final word... Great opportunities to: boost revenue stay in touch with people who are interested in what you do Don t forget today s 20 somethings are tomorrow s 30 somethings Word of warning... Internet shouldn t be an excuse not to forge and build on personal relationships DOWNLOAD PDF OF PRESENTATION SEARCH ON GOOGLE FOR: legal website design dbs or type in browser: www.dbs-uk.co.uk/services-solicitors.html