Jump Starting Your Email Campaign For Lawyers 101 By Arthur C. Kosieradzki, Esq. Founder, Let America Know Email Marketing is Permission-Based Marketing Permission is a tremendous Gift. It is a measure of trust. When someone agrees to receive email from you regarding any type of interaction, they are essentially saying two things: 1. I may have an interest in working with you. 2. I trust you. You have my permission to send me your messages. So continue to build trust by rewarding it. Send your clients, past clients, referral sources, colleagues and friends something of value. They will reward you in kind by staying subscribed. Focus your marketing efforts on people who want to hear from you. This is the essence of permission-based email marketing. And who better to market to? These are the people who are far more likely by an order of magnitude to become actively involved with your practice someday. Perhaps even more then once. Possibly even as an evangelist, referring others to you. Jumpstarting Your Campaign Should you start now, or wait? The Catch 22 of when to start your campaign One of the most common excuses for not starting an email marketing campaign is, I don t have a big enough list yet. But this is a Catch-22. How will you build your list if you don t have anything to send? Moreover, when someone asks you why you need his or her email address, what do you say?
Page2 Start now. Then grow your list over time. The first step is to know what you are going to send, and how often. Get your campaign squared away. Then you ll have a compelling story to tell. You ll have a great reason for requesting someone s email address, and you ll be able to articulate value. (See Extolling the Virtues in this paper.) Permission is fleeting. So be ready to publish soon. The time gap between opt-in and delivery especially the first delivery is crucial. Don t wait until you ve amassed a substantial list before you begin sending your email campaign. The longer you wait, the more likely your subscribers are to forget what they ve subscribed to. If this happens, then when they do finally receive your message, they ll be more likely to either opt-out or worse, report your email as spam. A new subscriber shouldn t have to wait more than a few weeks before receiving your newsletter. Jumpstart Your Opt-in List Start small Everybody knows 50 people If you were to write a list of everyone you know, from memory, how many people would be on it? That s probably 50 right there. But how about if you add all the contacts from your database? And then the people in your personal address book? Take a look at your past sent emails and you will be surprised at all the people there. These are the people you have already been communicating with. If you are still not up to 50 people, I would be shocked. The fact is everybody knows at least 50 people. Most could count 100. This is the starting point for your list. Remember this is a communication tool to tell people about you and help support a positive message about trial attorneys. That means sending to more then just past and present clients. And remember, it is NOT spam when you send a business-related email to people you have done business with in the past! Spam is sending unwanted email to people who have never heard of you! Our members have found that only a tiny fraction less than 1 percent of their friends, clients and past clients unsubscribe after receiving that first newsletter.
Page3 Add your present and past clients It s time to get all your clients on your list. If you have not been getting email address at the time you sign up a client, it s time to start. Make this part of your practice. Engage your staff in the process. Every time you talk to a client, it s a great time to ask about email. In this day and age, you will be surprised how many clients actually want to communicate with you by email. You may also want to consider a postcard push to present and past clients that you only have a mailing address for. Send them a card and tell them about your new newsletter, and ask for an address. If nothing else this will be one more opportunity for you to touch your client and maintain that ever-important top of mind awareness. Continue Building Your List Various ways to get to yes, I d like to receive your newsletter. Extolling the virtues Competition for your readers attention is fierce. So incentive is a prerequisite. When talking to people about your email newsletter, give them some good reasons for opting in. Here are several you can use: Great consumer related information that will protect your health and safety and that of your family and friends. Updates on your law practice. Regular delivery once per month, just like a magazine. Email addresses are not shared with anyone. Ever. Easy, single-click unsubscribe. All requests honored. Use your web site Include a simple subscribe form on your web site. Make it easy. Ask only for a name and email, and require the email. Or you can contact Let America Know, and we ll provide your website manager with code to put a Subscribe to My Newsletter form on your site or bio page. Your campaign will gather more information from each subscriber via surveys and other interactions. This is a where the power of permission email marketing really shines.
Page4 Involve your staff As discussed, your staff provides a great opportunity for gathering email addresses. Remind them to ask clients and contacts for addresses as you move forward. If you don t ask, you will not receive. What about inquiries for your services? We all get calls from people whom we cannot help, or we just don t practice the kind of law they need help with. This is a great opportunity to get an email address and stay in touch. Getting long-term value by staying in touch with someone we just couldn t help at the time offers long-term benefits. Speaking engagements? Many attorneys spend a great deal of time speaking to others. Whether it is a CLE or some community event, this is a perfect place to gather email addresses. Provide a simple form, and at the end of your presentation ask people for addresses. Make email marketing part of your business culture Email marketing is here to stay. And thank goodness! There has never been a more effective and affordable method for nurturing relationships with clients and contacts. So embrace it. And make it a part of every business relationship. Practice your request for opt-ins. Every professional interaction is a potential subscriber. It is not necessary to be high pressure some people simply don t want more email. But for every person who does opt-in, you ve got another potential client who is willing to listen to you. More important you have one more person who is willing to hear about the contributions trial attorneys and their clients make to society. Opt-in summary Let s take a minute and summarize how to build that email list: Ask present clients Ask past clients Try a postcard campaign Check your contact database Check your address book Look at your past sent emails Look for old business cards collected from contacts Ask for addresses at speaking engagements
Page5 Involve your staff Use inquires for legal services as an opportunity to get an address Add friends and family And most important make email part of your ongoing business culture