Solo and Small Firm Marketing

Real tested advice. Explained so you can understand.

8 Shady Tactics Vendors Use To Trap Small Firms (and How To Fight Back!)

When Katie (my wife) started her law firm a few years ago, we were excited. It was going to be an adventure! As she walked out of her big firm job that last day, it seemed like the possibilities were endless.

And then the calls started. And the emails. And the tricks. It was like someone had put an ad on Craigslist saying “Easy mark! Hock your wares with abandon!”

With each step she took to start her firm, filing corporate docs, purchasing a domain name, signing up for phone service, setting up IOLTA accounts, it got worse.

I’m sure you’ve experienced the routine (and if you’re thinking about starting your firm, just wait.)

Phone calls at all hours. Because hey, we wouldn’t want to cold call a potential prospect during their working hours like everyone else, we need to stand out! 7am it is! Putting your kids to bed? Nuh-uh, it’s time to talk document management!

A constant barrage of cold emails with generic pie in the sky offers about this and that. None of any substance, just begging you to get on a phone call so they can see how much budget they can extract from an unsuspecting new business owner.

And the junk mail! Oh the junk mail! Not just “hey you should know about this service” junkmail, but downright fraudulent junkmail. Junkmail saying you’re in violation of some law if you don’t talk to them, or that someone’s going to steal your domain name or your trademark in China. Each looking more official than the last.

It’s exhausting. And we’d had enough. There HAD to be some good actors around. But the more I searched, the more shadiness I came across.

I’d had enough. And it was time to do something about it. So when I started AmazeLaw, I vowed to be honest with my clients, to treat them fairly, to empathize with the fact that they’re not an entity to extract money from, they’re small business owners, just like me, struggling and working their tails off for a better life.

I’ll leave it to my customers and to you to determine if I’ve succeeded, but in an effort to combat the shadiness, here are * tactics vendors are using right now to try and screw over small firms under the guise of being helpful.

Red flags in abusive vendor relationships

These are the tactics that should immediately set off red flags. Now not all vendors who use these tactics are bad by default, but they should act as leading indicators for abusive relationships so proceed with caution.

Being secretive about pricing

What they’re thinking: Their goal with this tactic is to get you to call to figure out whether it’s even in your budget. They don’t trust that you’ll be able to see the value of the product on their own, so they want you to contact a script-reading junior sales rep to convince you that it’s worth shelling out your precious cash, and then pass you off to a closer (account executive.)

Also, it means they don’t have any pricing structure to adhere to. They’re free to tell you any price (often after learning how large your budget is.) So they’ll start high, and work down so you feel like you’re getting a deal, often with steep discounts that magically appear when you tell them you’re all set.

How you can take advantage: This is the first step in some aggressive sales BS. But, if you really think the product works well (maybe you’ve had a colleague recommend it), you have a bit of an advantage if you’re willing to play hardball.

Make frequent price objections, threaten to walk away. Then actually walk away. Hang up the phone and tell them you’re just not sure about the price. I promise you they’ll call back. And there’ll probably be a discount in it for you.

Requiring annual or multi-year contracts

What they’re thinking: We don’t trust that you’ll stick around long-term, so rather than giving you 12 chances per year to consider whether that line in your bank account is worth it, they’ll only give you one option, and they’ll put a customer retention specialist in touch with you to promise big things for the next year.

And of course they’ll probably have a notice clause in the contract requiring more than 30 or 60 days notice of cancellation before it automatically rolls over. So when you contact them to cancel a few weeks before it rolls over, you’re told you’re already locked up for another year and if you want to cancel, you’ll have to pay an exorbitant cancellation fee (if they even let you).

There also appears to be a trend in the marketing services space (SEO, PPC Ads, Content Generation, Lead Generators, Directories) to require a 3 or 6 month commitment (often at $1k+/mo.)

While not as costly as annual contracts, they’re inherently higher risk. As an excuse, the sales rep will tell you that it takes time to see results from a new marketing channel. And that’s true, to a point.

But any person worth working with, any person you trust, will be able to give you an honest assessment along the way and let you know whether it makes sense to keep moving forward. They’re just trying to force the decision rather than letting their service speak for itself.

If they don’t trust that you won’t leave after a month or two, it says something (everything?) about how much they trust their product.

[Tweet “If a vendor doesn’t trust you’ll stay month 2 month, that says everything about their solution.”]

Note – These scenarios are different from annual prepay/billing. Annual prepay (often with a discount) can make a lot of sense for you and for the vendor. It helps them with cashflow and it provides you with a) a discount and b) the ability to play with your tax burden a little bit. If you have a strong year and you’re not sure the next year will be so fruitful, paying for the next-year’s services in December will reduce your tax burden this year (assuming you’re using cash accounting.)

Obviously, I’m not an accountant, so that’s not financial advice. But I would advise setting up a standing meeting with your accountant every fall to go over your accounting and help make decisions like this while you still have time before the end of the year.

Now before you sign up for annual prepay, you should ensure that you’re not locked in. For example, we offer 2 months free for our clients that sign up for annual billing, but if they get six months in, we’ll send them a pro-rated refund. They’re not locked in.

So be sure to ask what happens if you cancel half-way through your annual contract so you can correctly weigh your options.

How you should handle this: Except in circumstances where the value is clear and you’ll clearly need it long term, I would run, not walk, away from these terms. Cash is king for a small business so don’t lock yourself up unless you’re absolutely sure it’s worth it. And make sure you ask if they have…

Early cancellation fees

What they’re thinking: This is usually paired with those big annual contracts. It’s nothing more than a way to make you question your decision to cancel and extract a little more cash on your way out the door. It’s extortion, pure and simple.

AmazeLaw is actually a rare business where a customer leaving actually costs us time and money. It takes a lot of time and effort to move a website. And even we don’t have cancellation fees. We’ll lose money. That’s our punishment for not meeting our clients’ needs, and our incentive to do better. Thankfully it doesn’t happen very often.

What you can do: Honestly, not much. You can try to negotiate your contract at the beginning, but that’s about all you can ask for. But before you do that, you should probably question why they need that clause in the first place and if that’s someone you want to work with or trust a part of your business to.

Owning your domain

This is specific to website providers but it’s egregious enough that I need to call it out. Some providers insist that they control the domain name for your website. Claiming that it’s easier if they register it. That they’ll make sure it’s always renewed.

What they’re thinking: If they own your domain name, you can’t go anywhere. In order to move your website, you’ll need a new domain name and you’ll give up all of the SEO you’ve built up. What’s more, you’ll need to update all of your business cards, potentially your email address, etc. It’s just another form of extortion to keep you from canceling.

What you should do: DO NOT DO IT. Register your domain under an account you (and only you) control. Make sure you sign up for auto-renewal. I usually recommend Namecheap or Dynadot (GoDaddy is ok too because they’re ubiquitous, but they have some questionable tactics of their own I recommend my clients avoid.) If they insist, run away.

Controlling your phone number

This is just like controlling your domain name. And with the rise in importance of local search and its reliance on consistent Name-Address-Phone Number (NAP) for rankings, it’s gotten even worse. Having a different phone number on your website than the one you have on your business cards, or in the phone book is a big no no.

What you should do: There should only be one phone number for your business, and it should reside with your telephone service provider.

Acting as the middleman between you and your clients

That phone number control is often used as part of a feature called call-tracking, an attempt to funnel all website leads through a proprietary system. Of course that assumes that your leads want to call you. Some vendors even go so far as to not put an email address on your website, forcing the visitor to either pick up the phone or fill out a generic form that connects to their system and their system only.

In addition to being yet another lock-in tactic so that you don’t lose your contacts, it kills conversions and virtually guarantees that your prospect moves on to the attorney that allows contact via whatever means the prospect is most comfortable with.

What you should demand: You need to own your communication with your clients. Any barrier that’s put between you and your clients is not worth whatever low-volume metrics you might be able to pull out of your marketing vendor.

Promising the moon

This is pretty straightforward. An over-eager salesperson making empty promises to hit their monthly quota. Sometimes it’s subtle, but when you start to think maybe they’re being a little too generous with their predictions here’s a tip…

How can you use this? If you’re wondering if they’re pulling the wool over your eyes, then a surefire way to tell is by using a trap question.

Take the vendor’s pitch to the extreme, ask them if that’s a typical result. For example, for a company building a website or an SEO firm, ask them if this product will get you on the first page of Google. For a lead gen product, ask if you’ll get at least 5 qualified, high-quality leads every month.

Of course, if they say yes, ask for the names of two or three clients that have had those outcomes so that you can speak to them about their experience. And then watch the excuses fly. They’ll say that they don’t disclose client information.

You can even ask for a guarantee. That you can request a refund if those results aren’t met. That’s almost always a no-go on their part, but at this point the deal’s probably over so have some fun and watch them try to justify why they can’t 🙂

If they say no, that those results might be possible but that they aren’t typical, that’s actually a positive sign. Ask them under what circumstances you could expect to see those results. Ask them what the typical results actually are. If they’re honest about the conditions where the solution works and where it doesn’t, they believe in what they’re selling and it might be worth trying as well.

But again, ask for two or three references that would be willing to back that experience up.

Not being willing to provide references

Here’s what they’re thinking: A lot of the legal marketing vendors out there are entirely based on pump’n’dump schemes, where they sell all of the attorneys in a given area on a product, then move on, like locusts. They know after their initial contract term, 90% of the clients that remember to check their billing statements will cancel, but they don’t care. Their job is to get folks signed up as quickly as possible, on the longest terms possible.

In those scenarios, it’s really hard to find a long-term customer that’s willing to speak with prospects. And if there’s only a handful of them and they’re selling at scale, they just can’t afford to send hundreds of reference requests to each attorney that offers.

Here’s the cold hard truth. If a vendor doesn’t have at least a few attorneys literally raving about their experience, then it’s probably a no-go. After all, by the law of large numbers alone, there should be outliers that are having success. Even if they can’t give you a phone number, they should be able to send you case studies of successful clients. And often from there, you can do some basic Googling to find the subject’s contact information if you need to verify their story.

What about you?

Have you seen these tricks in the wild? How have you dealt with them? Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments!

Tired of being played?

If you need help with your marketing, but were really hoping to avoid all of those tactics, let’s chat and we’ll help you get off to a great start!

Schedule a Demo Today

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Business, Marketing, Websites

When Do You Need a Federal Criminal Lawyer? Key Legal Insights

Federal criminal lawyers are professionals who defend charges for federal defense. If you have committed or have been accused of committing federal crimes, you need a federal defense attorney.

These lawyers understand federal laws and court procedures. They are experienced in building a strong defense and handling complex cases. Their expertise helps protect your rights and improve the case outcome through negotiating.

However, you don’t always need them for every case. It’s important to understand when to hire them to get the best results in a case.

When to Hire A Federal Defense Attorney?

Some crimes are punished or solved based on state laws, while some follow federal laws. For federal crimes, you need a federal attorney.

1. Drug Trafficking in Large Amounts

Are you accused of trafficking drugs in large amounts? Then, you need to hire a federal criminal lawyer as soon as possible. The US Government is strict about drug trafficking, and the punishment is often severe.

This offense involves illegal substances like cocaine, LSD, heroin, or PCP and is a serious crime. A first offense can lead to 5 to 40 years in prison, with higher penalties if death or injury occurs.

A federal criminal lawyer helps with negotiations to minimize penalties and protect your rights. They work to save you from a guilty verdict or prove innocence.

2. Counterfeiting

If facing charges for counterfeiting, hire a federal criminal lawyer. Counterfeiting involves manufacturing, possessing, or using fake money. Possessing tools for counterfeiting is also illegal. Penalties include 5 to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. A good attorney aims to protect your rights and never ask you to plead guilty to something you did not do. They will also help if you are conspiring or dealing with passable fake money.

3. Sex Crimes

Sex crimes under federal law are serious. They are known as aggravated sexual abuse or sexual abuse. If proven guilty, penalties can range from several years to life in prison.

If the victim is a child under 16, the minimum penalty is 30 years. These are the most severe offenses you can face. To increase your chances of a more favorable outcome, hire an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer. Federal agencies, part of the DOJ, handle investigations and evidence for these cases.

4. Homicide

Murder is the unlawful killing of someone often with malice aforethought. It includes planned, deliberate, and premeditated acts or killings during other serious crimes. Federal murder cases are rare but involve high-profile investigations.

These crimes can occur on ships, airplanes, or military bases, where federal jurisdiction applies. Federal murder charges can be classified as first-degree or second-degree.

Facing these charges requires an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer. They can provide the best defense and help achieve a positive outcome.

5. Money Laundering

Money laundering involves hiding the source of illegally obtained money through financial transactions. It’s a serious federal crime. The crime is often added to other federal charges.

You need the support of a federal defense attorney to defend you. With experience, they can often resolve cases before charges are even filed. Whether you are a business owner, banker, or healthcare provider, they can help you.

The US Constitution preserves everyone’s life, including someone accused of crimes. Your lawyer will ensure you are not getting more than the required punishment. Whatmore, they also try to negotiate and reduce the punishment.

6. Charges of Illegal Weapons

Illegal weapons charges under federal law are serious offenses. These include unlawful possession of firearms, firearms trafficking, and using weapons in violent crimes or fraud.

Penalties can be severe for such crimes. As per federal laws, you may get up to 15 years of prison sentences. However, that’s not always the punishment. Federal defense attorneys can help mitigate the penalties.

They are aware of complex federal laws and know how to navigate the legal system. Based on the situation, they will try to establish a scenario where your crime may seem less fatal. This can help get a more suitable punishment.

7. Federal Grand Larceny

In simple terms, it’s like stealing something. In legal words, grand larceny is taking something highly expensive that is not yours. The federal courts are usually not concerned about small or minor stealing. When something of utmost importance is stolen, federal laws might take it into their hands.

Grand larceny differs from petit larceny. Theft of properties worth less than $1000 is considered petit larceny. So, to be considered a federal crime, it has to be a property theft of more than $1000. In such cases, a federal defense attorney is needed. The list includes:

Secret scientific material
One or more firearms
A motor vehicle priced more than $1000
Property valued at more than $3,000
An automated teller machine or its contents
A telephone access device, etc.

Conclusion

Federal criminal cases require the help of federal criminal lawyers. Whether you really committed the crime or not, you still need them. With their expertise and knowledge, they will work to help get the best outcome.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Marketing

How Quality Content and SEO Can Drive Client Acquisition for Lawyers

Digital marketing is a crucial element for law firms aiming to stand out and attract clients. As the legal industry becomes increasingly saturated, having a strong online presence is no longer optional—it’s essential. Quality content and effective SEO strategies are at the heart of this effort, driving traffic to your website and converting visitors into clients.

Creating content that resonates with potential clients is vital. Not only does it position your firm as an authority in the field, but it also builds trust, answering the legal questions and concerns of those seeking your services. However, it’s not enough to just create content; it must be optimized to ensure it reaches the right audience. That’s where SEO comes into play, helping your content rank higher on search engines and making it easier for potential clients to find you.

The Importance of Quality Content

What is Quality Content

Quality content in the legal sector is defined by its relevance, accuracy, and engagement. It’s about providing information that your audience finds valuable—whether that’s through blog posts, articles, or guides. Quality content should address the specific needs and concerns of your potential clients, offering them insights and solutions to their legal problems.

Benefits of Quality Content

Well-crafted content does more than just fill up space on your website. It establishes your law firm as a knowledgeable and trustworthy authority in your field. When potential clients find answers to their questions through your content, they are more likely to trust your expertise and seek out your services. Additionally, quality content enhances your SEO efforts, making your website more visible on search engines and driving more organic traffic to your site.

SEO: A Key Driver for Client Acquisition

Understanding SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) enhances your website to boost its visibility in search engine results when potential clients search for legal services online. In a competitive market, a strong SEO strategy can make the difference between attracting a new client and losing them to a competitor. SEO involves various tactics, such as optimizing keywords, improving local search presence, and refining your site’s overall structure—all with the goal of increasing your website’s ranking on search engines.

SEO Strategies for Law Firms

For law firms, certain SEO strategies are particularly effective. These include keyword optimization, where specific legal terms are targeted to attract the right audience, and local SEO, which focuses on improving visibility in local search results. Mobile optimization is also crucial, as more users are accessing websites from mobile devices. Implementing these strategies can significantly enhance your law firm’s online presence.

If your firm is looking for ways to enhance its online visibility, you might find inspiration from industries with similar SEO needs. For instance, companies offering healthcare SEO services have mastered the art of creating custom SEO strategies that cater to a specialized audience. This approach ensures that content is not only optimized for search engines but also tailored to meet the specific needs of the target market.

Integrating Quality Content with SEO

Content Optimization Techniques

Optimizing content for search engines doesn’t mean compromising on quality. It’s about striking a balance between readability and search engine friendliness. Start by naturally incorporating keywords into your content—avoid keyword stuffing, which can harm your rankings. Optimize meta tags, headings, and images to improve search engine visibility. Ensuring your content is easy to read and navigate also contributes to a better user experience, which is increasingly important for SEO.

The Role of Blogging and Articles

Regular blogging and publishing articles are powerful tools for maintaining and boosting your website’s SEO performance. These pieces of content not only keep your website fresh and relevant but also provide opportunities to target new keywords and topics. Updating older content to reflect current legal trends and practices ensures that your site remains a valuable resource for both existing and potential clients.

Conclusion

In conclusion, integrating quality content with effective SEO strategies is essential for law firms aiming to enhance their client acquisition efforts. By focusing on creating informative, engaging content and optimizing it for search engines, your firm can build authority, trust, and visibility online. In today’s digital age, these elements are key to standing out in a crowded market and attracting the clients your firm needs to thrive.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Marketing

Personalized Direct Mail Dental: A Comprehensive Guide

Welcome to your comprehensive guide on Personalized Direct Mail Dental. In a world where digital marketing seems to reign supreme, it’s easy to overlook the power and potential of direct mail. But here’s the thing: direct mail, especially in the dental industry, is far from obsolete.

In fact, it’s a versatile, tangible form of advertising that can help you attract new patients, maintain patient loyalty, and stand out in a competitive landscape. In this guide, we’ll delve into the nuts and bolts of creating a successful dental direct mail campaign, from defining your goal and identifying your target audience to choosing the perfect mail solution. We’ll also explore different types of dental direct mailers, such as postcards, brochures, snap packs, and more.

Whether you’re a seasoned mail expert or a novice looking to dip your toes into the world of direct mail marketing, this guide is designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to launch a successful campaign. So, let’s dive in and start exploring the world of dental direct mail.

Understanding the Power of Dental Direct Mail

This section will delve into the unique strengths of dental direct mail, shedding light on why it’s a preferred choice for many dental management companies. From its tangible impact to its versatility, dental direct mail offers a myriad of benefits that can help your practice stand out in a crowded market. Let’s explore these advantages in detail.

Why Dental Direct Mail Marketing?

Dental direct mail marketing is a powerful tool in the arsenal of any dental management company. It’s not just about sending out a dental postcard or two. It’s about crafting a direct mail campaign that resonates with your target audience, making your mail piece more than just a piece of paper, but a tangible representation of your brand.

The beauty of direct mail marketing lies in its versatility. Whether it’s a simple postcard or a more complex direct mail product, the options are endless. You can tailor your campaign to fit your specific needs, making it the perfect solution for your marketing woes.

Working with a mail expert like a mail shark can help you navigate the complexities of a direct mail campaign. They can guide you in creating a direct mail piece that not only looks good but also effectively communicates your message. With their help, you can harness the power of dental direct mail and take your marketing efforts to the next level.

The Impact of Tangible Advertising

The tangible nature of dental direct mail advertising holds a unique power that digital platforms can’t replicate. When a potential patient holds a dental postcard in their hands, it creates a physical connection that can significantly impact their perception of your dental management company. This tactile experience, combined with a well-crafted message, can leave a lasting impression, making your brand more memorable.

Moreover, the physicality of a direct mail piece adds a sense of legitimacy to your dental practice. In an era where digital ads can be easily dismissed with a click, a print and mail piece demands attention. It’s a concrete reminder of your services that stays within the recipient’s environment, often viewed multiple times, thereby reinforcing your message.

Versatility in Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail marketing is a versatile tool that can be tailored to fit the unique needs of a dental practice. Whether you’re looking to attract new patients or retain existing ones, the right direct mail product can make all the difference. From dental postcards to more comprehensive mail pieces, the options are vast and varied.

The beauty of direct mail lies in its adaptability. A dental management company can work with mail experts to design, print, and mail pieces that resonate with their target audience. This level of customization allows for a more personalized approach, increasing the likelihood of a positive response.

Creating a Successful Dental Direct Mail Campaign

Creating a successful dental direct mail campaign is a strategic process that requires careful planning and execution. It’s not just about sending out mail pieces, but about reaching the right audience with the right message. This section will guide you through the key steps involved in creating a successful dental direct mail campaign.

From defining your goal to identifying your target audience and choosing a mailing solution, each step plays a crucial role in the success of your campaign. Let’s delve into these steps in detail.

Defining Your Goal

The first step in creating a successful dental direct mail campaign is defining your goal. This is a crucial step as it sets the direction for your entire campaign.

A well-defined goal is the foundation of a successful dental direct mail campaign. It guides your decisions and helps you measure your success.

Identifying Your Target Audience

Identifying your target audience is a crucial step in creating a successful dental direct mail campaign. This process involves understanding who your potential new patients are, their demographics, and their needs.

A well-defined target audience can significantly increase the effectiveness of your campaign. It allows you to tailor your message, making it more relevant and appealing to the recipient. This, in turn, can boost your conversion rates and help grow your practice.

Choosing a Mailing Solution

Choosing a mailing solution is a critical step in your dental direct mail campaign. It’s not just about sending out mail pieces, but ensuring they reach the right audience and make an impact. A reliable mailing solution can streamline this process, taking care of everything from print to mail, and even offering expert advice on maximizing your campaign’s effectiveness.

There are several mailing solutions available, each with its unique features and benefits. Some offer advanced services like variable data printing, which allows for personalized mail pieces that can significantly enhance your campaign’s success. Others provide on-site USPS verification, ensuring faster turnaround times and guaranteed accuracy.

Attracting New Patients with Dental Direct Mail

Attracting new patients is a crucial aspect of growing your dental practice. One effective way to achieve this is through personalized dental direct mail. This strategy allows you to reach out to potential patients directly, offering them a glimpse into your services and the unique care you provide.

By leveraging tools like attract new patients postcards, new mover marketing, and variable data printing, you can create a compelling and personalized message that resonates with your target audience. This approach not only helps you stand out from the competition but also fosters a deeper connection with potential patients.

Using Postcards to Attract New Patients

Postcards are a powerful tool in the arsenal of dental direct mail. They offer a tangible, personalized touch that can effectively reach your target audience. With a well-crafted message and design, attract new patients postcards can pique interest and prompt potential patients to take action.

The success of this strategy lies in the precision of your dental mailing list. A well-curated list ensures your postcards reach the right people, increasing the chances of conversion. It’s not just about quantity, but quality. A targeted mailing list can significantly improve the effectiveness of your direct mail campaign.

Leveraging New Mover Marketing

New mover marketing is a potent tool in the arsenal of a dental practice. It targets new residents in your area, a demographic that is most likely to be seeking a new dentist. This strategy is a direct mail solution that can help you stand out from the competition and attract these potential patients to your practice.

Research shows that new movers tend to spend six times more in their first six months at a new location. This spending includes finding and establishing relationships with local service providers, including dentists. By leveraging new mover marketing, you can position your practice as the go-to choice for dental services in your area.

However, the success of new mover marketing depends on precision print and effective campaign management. It’s not just about sending out postcards; it’s about creating a compelling message that resonates with your target audience. With the help of a direct mail expert, you can craft a campaign that not only reaches your target audience but also convinces them to choose your practice over others.

Personalizing Content with Variable Data Printing

Variable data printing is a powerful tool in direct mail solutions, especially for dental practices. It allows for the creation of personalized mail pieces, each tailored to the recipient’s specific needs or preferences. This level of customization can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your dental direct mail campaigns.

The beauty of variable data printing lies in its ability to leverage the information from your dental mailing list. By using this data, you can create highly personalized content that resonates with your target audience. For instance, you can address each recipient by their name, mention their last visit date, or even suggest specific dental services based on their past treatments.

Maintaining Patient Loyalty with Dental Direct Mail

In the realm of dental practice, patient loyalty is a precious commodity. Dental direct mail marketing can be a potent tool in fostering this loyalty. It’s not just about sending out a dental flyer or a postcard brochure; it’s about creating a personalized connection with your patients. This section will delve into how a well-planned dentist direct marketing campaign can help maintain patient loyalty and ensure the growth of your practice.

Building a Solid Patient Base

Building a solid patient base is the cornerstone of any successful dental practice. It’s not just about attracting new patients, but also about retaining the existing ones. This is where dental direct mail marketing comes into play.

A well-crafted dentist direct mail campaign can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. It allows you to reach out to your target audience in a personal and tangible way. Unlike digital marketing, direct mail has a physical presence, which can make a stronger impression on the recipient.

Whether it’s a dental flyer, a postcard brochure, or a snap pack, the key is to create a compelling message that resonates with your audience. This can help you build a loyal patient base that keeps coming back to your practice.

Ensuring Regular Visits

Ensuring regular visits from patients is a critical aspect of a successful dental practice. This not only helps in maintaining the oral health of the patients but also contributes to the steady growth of the practice. A well-planned dentist direct mail campaign can play a significant role in achieving this goal.

Direct mail marketing, such as dental flyers or postcard brochures, can serve as friendly reminders for patients to schedule their regular check-ups. These mailers can be personalized to each patient, making them feel valued and encouraging them to prioritize their dental health.

Moreover, a targeted mailing list can be used to reach out to patients who haven’t visited in a while, reminding them of the importance of regular dental check-ups. This approach, combined with a compelling marketing campaign, can help ensure regular visits and foster patient loyalty.

Standing Out Among Local Practices

A well-executed dentist direct marketing campaign can be the difference between blending in and becoming a local leader. Dental direct mail marketing, particularly through the use of postcard brochures and dental flyers, offers a unique opportunity to showcase your practice’s unique offerings.

The goal is not just to attract new patients, but to retain existing ones. A targeted mailing list can ensure your marketing materials reach the right audience, fostering a sense of community and loyalty among your patient base. This is the power of a well-executed dentist direct mail campaign.

Exploring Different Types of Dental Direct Mailers

Direct mailers offer a tangible, personalized way to reach out to both existing and potential patients. In this section, we’ll delve into the different types of dental direct mailers, from postcards and brochures to snap packs and self-mailers. Each type has its unique benefits and can be tailored to meet your specific goals, whether it’s expanding your patient base, enhancing patient engagement, or standing out in a competitive landscape.

Postcards and Brochures

Postcards: These are a popular choice in the dental mail market. They are cost-effective, easy to design, and can be customized to target a specific patient base. They are great for maintaining patient loyalty and increasing brand recognition.

Brochures: Brochures offer more space for information than postcards. They can be used to provide detailed information about dental services, introduce new treatments, or highlight the competitive landscape of your dental office. They are an excellent tool for patient engagement.

Combo: Combining postcards and brochures can be a powerful strategy. A well-designed postcard can grab attention, while a detailed brochure can provide the necessary information to convert an interested reader into a loyal patient.

Snap Packs and Self Mailers

Cost-effective: Snap packs and self-mailers are a budget-friendly option in the mail market. They eliminate the need for an envelope, reducing costs and providing immediate visual impact.

Engaging: These mailers are designed to grab attention. The unique format encourages the recipient to interact with the mailer, increasing patient engagement.

Versatile: Snap packs and self-mailers can be used for a variety of purposes. They’re perfect for introducing your dental office to potential patients, maintaining patient loyalty, or reminding exist patients of upcoming appointments.

Reminder and Welcome Postcards

Welcome Postcards: These are designed to attract new patients and establish a solid patient base. They provide an excellent opportunity to introduce your dental office, services, and any special offers to new residents, thereby enhancing brand recognition.

Reminder Postcards: These are crucial for maintaining patient engagement and loyalty in a competitive mail market. They serve as friendly nudges, reminding existing patients of their upcoming appointments or the need for regular check-ups. This helps ensure your dental practice stays top-of-mind.

Personalized Postcards: These are a powerful tool for fostering long-term relationships with patients. By incorporating personalized elements such as the patient’s name or birthday, you can show your patients that you genuinely care, thereby boosting patient loyalty.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Dental Direct Mail Campaign

In dental direct mail marketing, it’s essential to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign. This involves a thorough analysis of your campaign’s success and understanding the return on investment it offers.

By doing so, you can fine-tune your strategies, ensuring that your direct mail pieces resonate with your target audience and drive new patient acquisition.

Measuring Campaign Success

Measuring the success of your dental direct mail campaign is crucial to understand its effectiveness. It’s not just about sending out mail pieces and hoping for the best. You need to track the response rate, which is the number of new patients who respond to your mail campaign.

The second metric to consider is the conversion rate. This refers to the percentage of respondents who actually become patients. It’s a direct indicator of the effectiveness of your direct mail product.

Understanding the ROI of Dental Direct Mail

Understanding the return on investment (ROI) of your dental direct mail campaign is crucial to gauge its effectiveness. It’s not just about the number of new patients you acquire, but also the value each patient brings to your practice.

A well-executed dental direct mail campaign can help your practice stand out, increase patient engagement, and drive growth. It’s a potent tool in your marketing arsenal, and understanding its ROI is key to leveraging its full potential.

Embracing the Power of Dental Direct Mail

In conclusion, the power of dental direct mail cannot be overstated. It’s a versatile tool that not only attracts new patients but also fosters patient loyalty, ensuring your dental office remains a preferred choice in a competitive landscape. From postcards to brochures, snap packs, and reminder postcards, the variety of direct mail products available offers a perfect solution for every dental management company.

With precision print and targeted mailing lists, your direct mail campaign can effectively reach your target audience, boosting patient engagement and brand recognition. While the world is rapidly digitizing, the tangible impact of a well-crafted mail piece remains unmatched. So, whether you’re a seasoned mail expert or just starting your first direct mail campaign, remember that dental direct mail marketing is a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.

To ensure your dental direct mail campaigns are as effective as possible, consider partnering with Cactus Mailing, a leader in direct mailers. Their expertise can help you design and execute campaigns that resonate with your target audience, driving new patient acquisition and strengthening loyalty, all while keeping your practice at the forefront of the market.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Marketing

6 Reasons Why Lawyers Should Use Facebook Ads

Getting your law firm noticed can be one of the most challenging parts of your legal service. While traditional methods of advertisement (i.e. newspaper, radio, etc.) may still have some effect, in today’s smartphone-driven world, lawyers using Facebook Ads can give them an added advantage. We suggest hiring one of the best Facebook advertising agency to get you up to speed.

Before getting started, you may want to review this article about Facebook Ads. It’s an overview of Facebook Ads and can help you get started.

In this article, let’s look at the reasons why lawyers should be using Facebook Ads and how it can benefit the firm.

Access to Prospective Clients

Facebook is more than just a place to communicate with friends and share cute videos of cats. Many businesses are using Facebook because of the possibility of building strong relationships with their customers and clients.

Start with a Facebook page. Then share relevant content that people will want to read. Let your law firm website be the place where you advertise your services and your Facebook presence be where you establish a connection.

Facebook is a huge marketplace where people are sharing personal information about their daily lives. From their upcoming divorce to a recent car accident, Facebook gives you access to many prospective clients.

Target Specific People

Looking at the advertising potential of Facebook, the ability to create demographic specific ads allows you to target more people likely to use your legal services.

Facebook Ads has evolved significantly in recent years. They continue to make modifications and improvements to the way you can set up your ads.

For local businesses, the benefits are big. Being able to target specific regions of a city or groups of people experiencing similar problems can guide you toward a more effective Facebook Ad campaign.

Unlimited Customization

Aside from the targeting abilities Facebook Ads provides, you also have unlimited potential for customizing your ad campaigns.

Consider creating a unique landing page on your website that directs people clicking your ad. Send them to an email list subscriber or request a phone call right away.

The most important thing to do is to have a landing page that is related to the Facebook ad you use. Here are a few things you can put on your landing page to improve your ads performance:

A short (~2 minute) video detailing your legal services
4 to 7 pieces of important information
Your call to action (i.e. submit your email or give us a call).

Keep your landing page short and to the point. The purpose of Facebook advertising is to direct prospective clients toward contacting your law firm. If you have too much on your landing page, it can be overwhelming and cause visitors to leave right away.

An alternative to the landing page approach may be to send those who click your ad on your Facebook Fan Page. When they’re there, you can offer a valuable piece of content for their contact information.

Affordable

Unlike Google PPC, which has competitive keywords costing more than $100 per click, Facebook Ads can be very cost-effective and you can find some of the best google adwords agencies that can help you execute these campaigns.

If you’re doing the advertising yourself, it may take some time to find the right combinations before you discover an effective ad result.

In contrast, there are many digital marketing services that can offer their expertise in creating a campaign that fits your budget.

Whether you want to spend a few hundred dollars per month or significantly more, you can set up a campaign and measure the results. Knowing where your budget is going and evaluating the return on investment is just another get advantage that Facebook Ads has for lawyers.

Share Your Expertise

Let’s face it, people are using Facebook to be entertained and stay connected with their loved ones. They don’t enjoy being bombarded by advertisements selling products and services.

If you’re going to be using Facebook Ads to attract clients to your law firm, you’ll have to provide valuable information.

If you’re a personal injury lawyer, consider sharing an article like:

Car accidents occur daily and studies have shown that most accidents occur because of these major reasons.We discuss 7 reasons how personal injury lawyers help and how you can reduce the stresses that come with getting in an accident.

If your focus is a divorce lawyer, you may want to try:

Studies show that children live unsatisfying lives and perform poorly in school when their parents are conflicting at home.We discuss 5 reasons why children can benefit from divorce and live happier, more successful lives.

Providing posts like these for Facebook users allows you to interact directly with prospective clients. Instead of selling your services you can create a relationship that makes you an expert on the legal practice you specialize in.

Build Community Awareness

Even though you are sharing content and providing valuable information, people may not inquire about your legal services right away.

From a consumer’s perspective, it takes multiple encounters with a brand before they make the decision to purchase. With the impacts of marketing and the skepticism of today’s consumers, that number continues to increase.

As you build awareness within the community, you’ll be able to stand apart from other law firms that don’t offer additional information to those on Facebook.

Facebook Ads is just one way to get people to recognize your legal services. You should also consider an Instagram advertising agency as they work hand in hand with Facebook. When people start reading your articles, they may have questions related to their situation. Having other tools on your website, such as a Customer Response Management app, can help answer their questions and set up a consultation at your office.

Check out this article on CRMs for lawyers to use in combination with your Facebook Ad campaigns.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Marketing, Social Media

8 Effective Online Marketing Techniques Used By Lawyers

Lawyer’s with websites need marketing techniques to introduce prospective clients to their legal services.

Whether you’re small- or medium-sized law firm, the techniques in this article can be used by you or review with your team to create an effective marketing strategy.

Take some time to decide which techniques are worth your time and efforts. You can always get one started and begin testing another later on.

The marketing strategy you create for your law firm will be completely unique to you.

Content Marketing

Content is the key to attracting visitors to your website and generating leads for your firm. Here are a few ways to use your content more effectively:

Offer Downloadable PDF. This is a simple way to capturing contact information from those visiting your website. Simply write a guide are common legal concerns, your area of expertise, or a course of action to take in situations requiring legal services. Putting your contact information inside the guide is a great way to encourage readers to contact your firm.
Write Quality Content. This can be difficult. Writing blog content that connects with your readers can entice them to share your content on their social media, thereby increasing your exposure and readership. Try focusing on the common concerns your prospective clients may be facing. As well, don’t be afraid to add a “share this with your friends” at the end of each article.
Share Your Content. For your content marketing to succeed, you have to share it in different places. Join Facebook groups, online forums, and answer questions on Quora. Once there, you can write responses and insert relevant links from your website.

Online Discussions & Groups

As mentioned previously, joining online communities, active forums, and places like Quora is a great place to share your content. In addition, you can also establish yourself as credible and reliable.

Instead of blasting out promotions to your content and links, maintain an active presence and build relationships with those online. Start by choosing just a few places to dedicate your time like LinkedIn, Facebook Pages, and other forums where discussions are regular.

Social Media

If you don’t have a social media presence, start now. As you share your best legal information online, having a place to reach out to prospects and build a community around you can minimize significant time and resources.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are still leading social media platforms where you can provide a place to build your online community.

The people who like your page or follow your accounts are likely genuinely interested in your services. Share content directly with them, they are your closest supporters.

Email Marketing

Lawyers using contact forms to collect leads can nurture those prospects through email marketing.

Email marketing is one of the lowest marketing costs and can lead to the highest ROI.

As you build your list of prospective clients, consider sending text-based emails only. Most people are familiar with opening emails from friends, families and business associates.

Emails that appear too noisy or filled with distracting images can immediately lead to the garbage bin, or worse, marked for spam.

Make A Video

In today’s media-rich world, video tends to be the dominating trend for both entertainment and sharing messages with others.

Creating videos can range from expensive high production features or your law firm to simply flipping on the camera and talking about your legal knowledge.

If you’re already blogging, consider turning your blogs into a full feature discussion involving you in your office. Having both videos and content related to the blog is appealing to a wider audience as well as boosts your credibility.

An easy way to do this is by utilizing AI tools that allow you to transform text into engaging videos. With AI text to video, you can easily transform your blog posts into engaging videos with just a few prompts, making the video creation process simpler and more efficient.

Facebook Ads / Google Adwords

Wondering how to increase your following on Facebook or boost traffic to your free consultation landing page?

Facebook Ads provide a range of possibilities to target prospective clients. You can set up your Facebook Ad account in a few steps. After that, you can begin to explore the demographic targeting feature to share your ads with specific audiences.

You should start with a low budget then adapt your ad campaign according to which ads are returning the most.

With Google Adwords, you can push your website to the top of search engines. Unlike Facebook Ads, your ads will be triggered based on relevant keywords that people are using to search online.

Knowing which keywords people are using can help your marketing attract more visitors to your website. However, something to keep in mind is that these keywords can be very competitive causing the price per click to be very high.

Before starting your first ad campaign, you may want to consider these Ethical Rules that lawyers must follow by the ABA.

SEO

If you’re a lawyer unfamiliar with how websites are ranked by search engines, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

There are both on-page (i.e. modifications to your website) and off-page (i.e. your activities away from your website) which can influence where your website appears in search results.

Improving the SEO on your website is a great alternative to paying for advertisements because this can get you free traffic. However, the SEO changes you make today may not take effect right away.

Some things you can start doing to improve your SEO are:

Creating more backlinks to your website (i.e. sharing your content and pages on forums and other places online)
Improve the quality of your articles
Perform keyword research and use the appropriate words on your web pages and articles.
Improve your website’s page speed (page speed is an important factor that search engines use to rank your website)

Note: As you publish more content on your website, you’ll organically improve your SEO.

Live Chat

Imagine being able to communicate with your visitors while they’re on your website.

Adding a live chat messaging system to your website can enable you to capture more leads and convert more visitors into clients.

Live chat works by triggering a message like, “How can we help you today?” whenever a visitor arrives at your website. Either you, your staff, or an outsourced agent can interact with that visitor.

During after hours, your live chat can continue to collect leads by providing information to contact you via email. You can return to office the next day and respond to any messages in your inbox.

There are a variety of live chat services dedicated to lawyers which is a consideration to ensure confidentiality and privacy of information shared over the chat system.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Marketing, Ultimate Guides

Law Firm Websites, Advertising, and the ABA: Overview of Online Ethics for Lawyers

Having a website for your law firm is a great way to set your legal services apart from competitors. You can showcase your expertise in a blog, market your services to prospective clients and turn website visitors into new clients.

However, before you make your website live, spend money on advertising, or activate a live chat service, there are ethical rules and regulations every lawyer should follow.

The American Bar Association (ABA) provides clear guidelines for lawyers to follow when it comes to their online activities. This article will cover just a few of the most crucial points and you should review the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct for the state you practice law.

Overview of the ABA Rules for Ethics and Online Compliance

As a practicing lawyer, you should be aware that some advertising materials and online content are prohibited. The rules outlined by the ABA vary from state to state and interpretations can be tangible.

The obvious benefits of a law firm website allow distribution of information to the general public, a 24/7 marketing tool, and immediate access for contacting a lawyer.

In contrast, the content being provided can result in website visitors misunderstanding the information or being misled by legal advice. Visitors may use this information to try and answer their personal legal situation.

Another concern when it comes to providing access to legal services online is the safety and security of sensitive information. Email and live chat servers may be saving copies of digital communications which a lawyer can compromise a lawyer’s commitment to confidentiality.

To combat this, lawyers must avoid publishing misleading or inaccurate information. The ABA expects lawyers to provide updated content containing only general information applicable to a lawyer’s area(s) of practice. This also includes links to any blogs or forums which the lawyer makes a contribution.

In regards to confidentiality, there are a few measures a lawyer can take to secure sensitive personal information. Lawyers are in complete control of how their website interacts with visitors. The ABA expects lawyers to consider how they will interact with visitors and discourage the submission of confidentiality. Having a noticeable disclaimer can help.

Overview of Ethical Rules for Law Firm Websites

Lawyers providing access to their legal services or sharing general information about law should follow the following rules to remain compliant.

Disclaimers are used for a range of ethical concerns that can arise online. From confidentiality to the images of people on your pages (i.e. using actors to portray lawyers, judges or fictitious events), a disclaimer should use warnings or cautionary statements for visitors on a law firm’s website.
Don’t Make False Client Expectations. Using your lawyer website to convince visitors that you can win their case can be very misleading. You have to be reasonable with your client expectations while convincing clients you are the best choice to hire. If you have factual support and a disclaimer like, “prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes” can prevent a breach of the ABA’s ethical rules.
Don’t Make False Statements. In rule 7.1(a), the ABA allows lawyers to (1) make statements comparing other legal services; (2) share testimonials from clients or former clients; and, (3) make statements about the character or quality of your legal services. However, as mentioned before, you must provide a disclaimer, provide factual support, and receive permission from clients to share their testimonials.

There are more rules regarding lawyer’s and their websites. Some states may require you to submit your entire site for review or just a few pages.

Overview of Ethical Rules for Advertisements

The first thing you should know about advertising, especially via email, is that you may have to include: “Attorney Advertising.”

The next thing to consider is whether the state you practice law requires a submission of advertising materials. In Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, you are not required to submit websites or other advertising materials. However, other states may have mandatory, optional, or different rules for submission and review.

Another important consideration is where you obtain your advertisements. Lawyers can use a lawyer referral service that has been approved by proper authorities; use written, recorded, or electronic advertisements; and, must provide an address or contact information to the lawyer or staff from the firm responsible for the ad.

Rule 7.2 covers the ethics of advertising in more detail.

Overview of Ethical Rules for Live Chat

Live chat is becoming a popular feature on websites because it allows lawyers or their staff to interact directly with visitors. While each state has their own interpretations of the ethical rules, here is a quick summary:

Duty of Competence: Lawyers should be cautious when responding to questions outside their area(s) of practice.
Client Confidentiality: Lawyers must maintain confidentiality to current and former clients.
Communication with Person Represented by Counsel (Rule 4.2): Lawyers must be careful not to communicate with an opposing party being represented by counsel.
Unauthorised Practice of Law (Rule 5.5): Lawyers are not permitted to answer legal questions regarding states where the attorney is not authorized to practice law.
Communication of Lawyers Services (Rule 7.1): Lawyers must ensure not to use false or misleading communication. Some states require a “Disclaimer” when communicating via live chat.
Solicitation (Rule 7.3): Live chat, depending on how it’s used, may not be used to solicit legal services for prospective clients.

This article is just an overview of the ethical rules and/or interpretations of those rules, it does not cover all possible ethical concerns regarding Website, Advertisements, and Live Chat. For a complete review, go to the ABA’s Model Rules.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Ultimate Guides

Best Live Chat For Lawyer Websites

Choosing the best live chat for your law firm’s website may come down to pricing, support, and functionality. Before reviewing a few live chats you can use for your website, let’s look at a few key features to help in your decision making.

The first thing to understand is what you can do with live:

Pre-chat Message: provide a pop-up to a visitor to prompt them toward clicking the button and starting the live chat session.
Pre-chat script: provide a series of questions the visitor must answer before the live chat session begins.
Proactive Live Chat: offering a live chat session to a visitor upon arrival.
Reactive Chat: waiting for a visitor to initiate the live chat button.
Unavailable Chat: when live agents are not available, an optional form is sent to the visitor to provide their email.

Next, in the marketing world, turning a website visitor into a paying customer (or client) is known as a conversion. Live chats are a great tool to increase conversions if you know how to use them.

Quick Tips for Live Chat

Take into consideration the following when choosing and setting up a live chat solution on your law firmès website:

Who Will Be Responding to Chat Requests? Will you be handling the chat notifications or an assistant? There is also the option of hiring a virtual receptionist and outsourcing. Are you aware of the ethical implications to answer legal related questions?
How Are Chats Being Answered? If you understand the ABA’s ethics rules for lawyers, you’ll know what kind of information you can or cannot collect during a live chat. If you have chosen a live chat with outsourced assistance, will they be given a script? Are they proficient in English? How should they handle sensitive information?
What Are Your Costs? There are many live chat solutions available and prices range from completely free to high hourly rates for active chat agents. You may also find the option to pay per lead or to pay per chat.

Now that you have an idea what to look for in a live chat software for your website, let’s look at a few options.

Live Chat for Lawyer Websites

Client Chat Live

Overview: Client Chat Live offers live chat solutions for small business, medical practices, and legal practices.

Installation: Their installation team provides you with the HTML to include on your website and simple steps to get started.

Features:

Proactive Pop-ups: invites visitors to start using the chat messenger
Branded chat boxes
Monthly chat reports (include all chats, summary of visitor details, and analytics)
Custom scripts for their operators
Live phone transfer
CRM Integration
24/7 operator availability

Languages: Available in English and Spanish

Pricing: Contact the company for a free quote.

Legal Chat 24/7

Overview: Legal 24/7 is a live chat provider dedicated exclusively to lawyers. They offer a team of trained operators capable of using legal language. They can also assist in designing custom chat scripts that suit your law firm’s style.

Installation: N/A

Features:

Legal training operators with focus on conversion
Live phone call transfer
Live chat 24/7/365
Branded chat boxes
Analytics
CRM integration
Lead notification (email, phone call, etc.)

Languages: Available in English and Spanish

Pricing: Pay per lead. Contact the company for more details.

Apex Chat

Overview: Apex Chat offers both live chat software and professional agents 24/7/365. They have agents specialized in personal injury, criminal defense, bankruptcy, family law, immigration, estate planning, and other legal areas. Apex Chat is a leading provider of live chat solutions for lawyers.

Installation: N/A

Features:

Multiple chat agents available 24/7
Live phone call transfer
Practice area trained operators
Pre-defined scripts
Customizable messenger (for branding)
CRM Integration
Geo-mapping and routing
Detailed reporting

Language: Available in English and Spanish

Pricing: Pay per lead, with the ability to cap billing. For more information, contact their sales team.

The following live chat providers are not specific for legal services.

Chat.io

Overview: Chat.io offers a highly functional live chat messenger for your website. You’ll see a simple chat messenger in the bottom right corner of your website with the option to add the chat agent’s image and personalized message. They also offer 14-day free trial.

Installation: After you sign up for your account, you’ll receive an HTML code to place on your attorney website. They offer easy-to-understand instructions for this task.

Features:

Create canned messages
Check chat status
Share files
Create smart or manual chat (for offline)
Use on multiple websites and integrate into Facebook
Receive chat ratings
Access to agent profiles and transparency
Only $10 per teammate/month

Please note, this chat service only offers access to their live chat software. If you need agents, you may have to outsource.

Other live chat software similar to Chat.io include:

These live chat services offer manual live chat solutions. If you don’t have the staff to manage your live chats, you can outsource and provide scripts or set up an autoresponder requesting contact information.

Overall, the benefits of using non-legal focused live chats would be their affordability. However, the inability to hire staff available 24/7 can lead to missed leads and prospective clients.

In contrast, the live chat services devoted to the legal industry include operators who can speak both Spanish and English. In addition, with pricing being pay-per-lead from talented operators focused on conversions, you’ll get exactly what you pay for.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Business, Marketing

Legal Malpractice Insurance For Attorneys

Whether you’re a solo practitioner of law or working with partners at a firm, having legal malpractice insurance will protect you from any unfortunate situations when a claim is made against you or your firm.

Mistakes are bound to happen and lawyers are liable for the decisions they make which have a direct impact on their clients personal lives and well-being. While some states may require legal malpractice insurance for attorneys, if you’re thinking about going without, understand the the consequences of being at the losing end of a claim against you can be devastating for your career.

This article will guide you through some of the benefits, considerations and examples of policies you can get to protect your legal services.

Why Purchase Legal Malpractice Insurance?

First and foremost, purchasing malpractice insurance protects you from any liability issues that can occur while performing legal services.

The cost of malpractice insurance for attorneys can come with a high annual premium. Depending on where you practice law, the area you practice, the years of experience you have, and the size of your firm, these are all factored into the annual insurance price.

Areas of practice such as real-estate lawyers and personal injury lawyers tend to pay higher premiums because these are seen as “high-risk” fields. Also, when a city has a higher number of malpractice claims, you can be sure to experience higher rates.

While he premiums may be extreme, especially if you’re a solo-practitioner or small law firm, malpractice insurance protects your reputation and personal indemnity.

For more detailed FAQs, please see the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability

What to Consider When Purchasing Legal Malpractice Insurance

Legal malpractice insurance for attorneys can cover many situations while leaving you liable for claims you may not see coming. When your considering which legal malpractice insurance to purchase, here is a few things you want to have in your insurance policy:

If you’re outsourcing or using a virtual receptionist, can your policy provide protection against outsourcing risks?
Does the policy protect all your staff and associates?
Will the policy give you peace of mind and confidence to practice law?
Does the policy legitimize your practice and build client trust?
Will you be protected against claims of professional negligence?
Does the policy cover the expense of hiring an independent legal counsel to represent you in the case of a complaint?

Another important consideration when choosing legal malpractice insurance would be the types of coverage you can receive. Each claim can have limitations of liability ranging from a few thousand dollars up to millions.

If a claim is made against your law firm, you may want to know if you’ll receive an increase in policy charges in future years.

Rates for Legal Malpractice Insurance

The actual rates of your legal malpractice insurance will depend upon factors listed above as well as the answers to some questions you’ll have to provide.

Here’s an example of some of the questions you’ll be asked which will be used to calculate the cost of your insurance coverage:

How many claims or incidents have you had per lawyer per year?
What was the nature of the claims (i.e. frivolous, ordinary negligence, gross negligence, criminal conduct)?
What was the degree of fault by the lawyer, (i.e. clear malpractice, statute of limitations, vicarious liability [when a lawyer leaves the firm])?
Have you been rejected from other insurance carriers or was renewal refused previous insurance provider?
What is the nature of your practice (i.e. family law, personal injury, etc.)
What was your attitude / conduct with the client in resolving claims (i.e. attitude toward client)?

Insurance companies will examine your firm carefully to determine your eligibility and insurance premium rates.

Be prepared to share some of the intimate details of your law firm or solo-practice. You’ll have to share information like your attorneys professional conduct, history of previous claims, list of attorneys, their roles, hours worked, and more. Applications will vary from insurance company to insurance company.

Insurance Company Red Flags

Some of the major factors contributing to increased insurance premiums come from the following list of “red flags” which insurance companies are looking for.

2 or more claims from the past year
3 or more claims from the past 10 years (depending on the size of your firm)
Type of claim
Pattern of claims
Being uninsured the previous 5 years
Not paying a deductible
Not cooperating with client suing
Any bar disciplinary incidences
Continued business relationship with clients that previous sued
Possession of other professional licenses.

Researching the Best Legal Malpractice Insurance

The list above determining the rates of your insurance policy can seem daunting, you have complete power to research and find the best policy provider for your firm.

Performing your own due diligence and criticizing the fine details of the policy will be in your best insurance. Insurance policy providers is a business and the advertisements you receive in your inbox are simply trying to sell you on their premiums while not providing you the right coverage for your firm.

In the case that you are rejected from an insurance provider, you can make any requested changes to the practices at your firm and reapply. There are plenty of insurance companies to choose from and comparative shipping will allow you to find the best price at the best coverage.

Insurance Updates & Renewals

Once you have selected the best legal malpractice insurance for you and your attorneys, you’ll have to continue to send any information to your insurer regarding changes to your practice.

If you hire on more attorneys or take on different kinds of clients, you may have to make changes to your policy.

When your insurance policy expires, you are responsible to make any necessary updates to avoid defrauding the insurance provider which can lead to legal consequences.

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Business, Ultimate Guides

Law Firm Virtual Receptionist

If you’re a solo practitioner or small law firm you may want to reduce your workload while improving the performance of your legal services. To do this in a cost-effective way, hiring a virtual receptionist can handle many of the small tasks required to run a law firm.

Virtual receptionists are able to help with tasks like social media, marketing, administration, advertising, answering phones and more.

Here you’ll find a variety of places to find a virtual assistant for your law firm.

What is a Virtual Receptionist?

Virtual receptionists offer highly-skilled service solutions that can manage many of the tasks your in-house staff would do. They can operate remotely, in office, or completely computer automated.

The benefits of hiring a virtual receptions include::

Cost effective
Time savings
Efficient
Reduce labour costs
Increased productivity
Access to expert talent
On-demand labour services

Virtual receptionists, also known as outsourcing, comes in the form of independent contractors, temporary office workers, remote workers, or

Are There Risks Using Virtual Receptionist?

While the benefits of having a virtual receptionist seem appealing, let’s take a moment to evaluate the risks of having a virtual receptionist.

Here’s some of the common risks that come with using a virtual receptionist:

Security & Confidentiality Risks. Providing legal services can expose you to a range of sensitive, personal information from your clients. If you choose a virtual receptions to handle your incoming calls, be sure there job requirements are clear: take calls, make appointments, and schedule consultation. Keeping sensitive information and data secure is a top priority at a law firm.
Quality Risks. Situations where quality becomes a risk include outsourcing calls to countries where language and cultural barriers exist. Potential clients may become frustrated explaining their needs to someone who is assigned simply to book appointments and set up an initial consultation.
Reputation Risks. Virtual Receptionists is another way of saying “outsourcing.” When you’re outsourcing work to other countries, it can sometimes lead to bad publicity and it may affect other staff working in house who may worry that they’ll lose their job to a cheaper, outsourcing solution.

When deciding how you’ll use a virtual receptionist at your law firm, if the risks outweigh the benefits, you should avoid including these outsourcing solutions at your law firm.

Law Firm Virtual Receptionists

If you’re busy providing legal advice or in the middle of a consultation, having an agent answering calls can increase the likelihood of securing new clients.

Services like AnsweringLegal provide dedicated call center solutions for law firms. They offer the following services:

Call handling
Message taking
Call routing
Legal intake
Customer support
Polite and professional customer experience

Call center virtual receptionist can be given a professional script to handle a range of questions and types of phone calls. Other services can provide 24/7 legal answering services to reduce missed opportunities at your law firm.

Here are a few more call answering services you can consider for your law firm:

PatLive – Offers 24/7 legal answering.

Pat Live provides virtual receptionists employed from the United States. They can help your law firm with message taking, appointment scheduling, lead collection, event scheduling, after hour agents, and more. With 27 years experience, Pat Live offer competitive virtual receptionist solutions for all business types.
Hours of operation: 24/7 services.
Pricing: $99 per month (50 call minutes) to $899 (1000 call minutes); provides additional features and a free 14-day trial.

Conversational – Offers friendly virtual receptionists in North America.

Conversational is an industry leading virtual receptionist service provider. Their team of professional and friendly receptionists come from the United States and Canada. They have over 14 years experience and are one of the few with 100% North America only receptionists.
Hours of operation: Custom operation solutions.
Pricing: $300 per month (600 call minutes) to $1000 per month (2400 call minutes); offers a 30-day free trial.

RubyReceptionist – Offers professional virtual receptionists and a mobile app to synchronize and manage all calls effectively.

Ruby Receptionists is a popular virtual receptionist service used by smaller law firms. They provide you with your own phone number which can be used to transfer to different lines and use detailed instructions to handle any situation coming into your office.
Hour of Operation: 8 am to 12 am EST + 5 am to 9 pm PST (can also operate on weekends)
Pricing: $259 per month (100 call minutes) to $989 per month (500 call minutes); includes 21 day money back guarantee.

AlertCommunications – Offers bilingual virtual receptionists and provide services exclusively for the legal industry.

Alert Communications has been providing their services since 1965 and use a client intake call centre strategy with their virtual receptionists. Instead of taking a call and transferring it to you, these virtual receptionists can handle any call volume and turn them into prospective clients at your law firm.
Since Alert Communications is exclusive to the legal industry, their virtual receptionists are trained to use and understand legal terminology giving you that added edge of professional at your law office.
Hours of Operation: 24/7 services.
Pricing: Contact a sales representative to receive a quote for your law firm; requires a 1-month upfront refundable deposit.

Answer 1 – Offer a tech based virtual receptionist that can also provide web chat, text messaging, emails and more.

Answer 1 offers virtual receptionists for businesses of all kinds and every size. If you have a website for your law firm, their software system can be integrated to add additional intaking solutions. You don’t have to feel restricted to answering phone calls only and can include web chats and other virtual methods for prospective clients to contact your law firm.
Hour of operation: 24/7 services.
Pricing: $90 one-time setup fee; $239 per month (100 call minutes) to $749 per month (500 call minutes); provides a 21 day free trial.

Alternative Law Firm Solutions

Looking for more ways to make your law firm run more efficiently? Try these software solutions to reduce your workload and focus on providing quality legal services:

by Bryan Mixon September 19, 2024 Business, Ultimate Guides