Be honest with yourself: How much time do you spend each week doing work that you don’t enjoy, for clients that you don’t enjoy working with? If you’re like many lawyers, that represents a pretty significant amount of your time. And as a result, you’re not enjoying your practice as much as you should be, and your firm is not running as smoothly as it should be. You (and your staff) are more motivated, more Read More
Law Firm Marketing: How to Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition
Most conversations about marketing a law firm - or really, most businesses - are focused on the medium, not the message. It’s easy to get distracted by bright shiny objects - “Should we try AdWords? What about SEO? Or maybe a billboard?” Those are good conversations to have. The problem is that most firms aren’t first having a conversation about their marketing message. The channels you use to communicate your Read More
Market to People, Not Robots: Four Ways to “Humanize” Your Internet Marketing
FAR too many lawyers equate "internet marketing" with "showing up on the first page of Google." Not that Google isn't important for professionals - it is - but internet marketing is MUCH BIGGER than Google. And when firms focus their "marketing" on that single objective... it rarely works out for them. They end up using marketing strategies that are focused solely on manipulating the Google algorithm, at the Read More
Lawyer Marketing: It Pays to be the Expert
It pays to be the expert. This is true in just about every field - and it's certainly true in law. Most consumers looking for a lawyer are facing significant issues - divorce, bankruptcy, defending their business in a lawsuit, helping a loved one immigrate, planning for the future of their estate, and so on. These are significant issues, and they're often overwhelming. Consumers facing these situations want to Read More
Six Words You Never Want to Hear: “I Didn’t Know You Did That!”
“I didn’t know you did that!” Many lawyers have heard this before – usually from a client who is excited to find out that you offer services beyond what you have done for them in the past. And while it often leads to more business, “I didn’t know you did that” is a phrase that you never want to hear. Here's why: it means that your clients (or referral sources) aren’t aware of the various ways in which you Read More
How to Keep Readers Engaged with Your Law Firm E-Newsletter
There are at least 100 BILLION emails sent per day. Some days it can feel like most of those were sent to me - do you know the feeling? Well, we're not alone. Just about everyone with an email account is inundated and overwhelmed. So given this email overload... how can you keep your audience engaged with your law firm email newsletter? (If you want to know why an email newsletter is important for your firm, Read More
Your Law Firm Website Should Reflect Your Status
What did you do before you left home this morning? I'm guessing the list includes most, if not all, of the following: You showered You shaved You brushed your teeth You got dressed in a clean, pressed, professional outfit You did your hair You put on makeup And finally... you checked yourself in the mirror before heading out to take on the day You did this for a simple reason: You're a professional Read More
A Lesson from the Shopping Mall: How Your Internet Marketing Can Enhance Your Value
Millions of Americans will visit the shopping mall this month. And their purchasing decisions can teach us a lot about the power of an effective brand. Many shoppers will pay a premium for a shirt with a Nike logo on it, even if it's otherwise exactly the same as a generic competitor's product. The same goes for a Chanel purse or a Rolex watch. These companies have built premium brands and as a result can command Read More
What We’re Thankful For
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson This week we want to focus on the many things we are thankful for. 2015 has been a great year for Spotlight Branding - we successfully re-branded, our team is growing, our Read More
Four Factors That Are MUCH More Important Than Your Google Ranking
Many lawyers seem to think that internet marketing = SEO. To them, all that matters in the realm of internet marketing is where their website shows up on the search results. (In fairness, it's hard to blame them - for years now SEO companies have shouted, spammed, and sweet-talked their way into over-priced contracts "guaranteed" to produce results.) If you personally haven't had a bad experience with an SEO Read More
