Questions to Ask Before Buying SEO Services

Securing the right search marketing agency for your law firm or other professional practice is challenging. Here are questions you should ask not only of yourself, but to potential search engine optimization (“seo”) consultants, before you sign on the dotted line.

Questions You Should Answer First

• What are my goals? Better positioning on search engines is an “ok” goal. But it’s more valuable to you if the goals are specific (and realistic), such as “20% more inbound leads” or “50 requests for more information per month.”
• How will I measure the success of this campaign? I work almost exclusively with law firms, and it’s common for lawyers to want double or triple firm revenues as a result of an SEO campaign. But in nearly all cases, this isn’t realistic, since contested matters could take many months or even years to yield fee revenue. Instead, refine your goals a step further and look at total number of cases or files working as a good indicator of success (at least early in the campaign).

Questions Good Consultants Will Ask You
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people selling SEO just looking to get rich quick. Most don’t have a clue about your business and very few even understand the basics of website optimization. The best, most capable consultants will ask questions like these:

• How much can you afford to pay for a lead, subscriber, download, etc.?
• What’s worked best (and least) in the past to generate the above?
• How will you measure the success of this campaign? The consultant is looking for realistic, measurable goals, which you’ll have already prepared.

Questions to Ask Your SEO Consultant
Finally, the time has come for you to examine the qualifications of the consultant. Ask some or all of these questions to help make your decision the right one:

• Do you have proof of your work? You’re looking for the consultant or vendor to have or quickly produce client testimonials, case studies, and sample rankings for firms similar in size and scope as yours.
• What results can I reasonably expect? And how long will it take? Demand to see or have prepared a detailed game plan. Get vague responses explained., and avoid any consultant or vendor promising specific placements (e.g. “We guarantee first place results for keywords on Google”).
• What is your experience in my industry? Work with a specialist. You wouldn’t go to a general practitioner for your heart condition, and neither should your law firm or other professional practice go with an all-purpose vendor.
• What techniques do you use to achieve results? What is the overall strategy? Anyone who mentions “meta-tags” as their first answer should be shown the door. You really want to hear them say things like “produce high-quality content” or “develop relevant inbound links within your industry.”
• When do I get updates? How often do you communicate to me? Who can I call with questions? At minimum, monthly reporting on progress and monthly reports on positions achieved should be the norm. And every program should have a point-person or main contact person, since most vendors use a team of specialists, strategists and analysts to fulfill your objectives.

Armed with these questions, you’re certain to catch most consultants (even the good ones) off-guard. Listen carefully to the responses, and if you get resistance, move on.

Photo credit by svilen001.

12 Secrets To Better Sales Copy

There are no shortcuts to effective, compelling sales copy. The best copywriters follow these guidelines when writing marketing messages. Stick to this list and improve the response of your sales messages:

• Use the words “You” and “Your” generously. This makes your copy “talk” to the reader.
• List features and emphasize the benefits. Every reader is selfish and only thinking how your offer will solve a problem they have.
• Write short paragraphs (2-3 sentences) of varying length. Make use of white space, bullets and subheadings.
• Grab your reader’s attention with your opening statements. A headline like “Attention: Electricians” really singles out who you’re trying to reach.
• It’s OK to break grammar rules. Use sentence fragments, start sentences with a conjunction and use contractions.
• Use connector words such as “Here’s how”, “So”, “In Fact”, etc. to move the reader from paragraph to paragraph.
• When writing sales letters, the “P.S.” and your headline are the most important elements. Devote extra time and effort to these sections, writing and rewriting until they are powerful.
• Use the shortest words possible yet still make your point. Why write “policeman” when you can write “cop”?
• The length of your sales copy should be just long enough to tell everything that needs to be told. Don’t follow any rules – say what you have to say in your sales letter, so long as it remains interesting to your reader.
• Include your call to action on the first and last page of your sales letter. It should be obvious.
• Always write conversationally, like you were talking to a friend. And read your copy out loud, you’re sure to discover areas that confuse or ramble on.
• Copywriting is considered salesmanship in print. Write your marketing messages as one person talking to another.

Real World Networking Tips

Everyone’s a buzz with Internet networking on sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo and Facebook. But let’s not forget the power of in-person networking. It’s much easier to form a bond with someone when you meet face to face. Online networking is somewhat anonymous, since we can hide behind our computer screens. See and be seen, take pictures, and record videos (so you have good fodder for your blog!).

First, find relevant events within your industry or geographic locations. Chambers of Commerce mixers, seminars and other local business networking events are found in nearly every community. Get over the initial inertia and just go introduce yourself to someone. Move past the small talk and ask open-ended questions with substance. People actually like being asked about their business, and what they do for a living, so ask questions such as:

• Why did you become a lawyer (doctor, salesperson, etc.)?
• How can I help you?
• How would I know if a prospect is right for referral to you?

What’s the biggest mistake you can make?
Don’t think of networking as a sales opportunity. Everyone at the event knows why you’re there, so think of it as a mission to learn something. Your sales and referrals will come later. And don’t be the one who holds up the wall and doesn’t talk to anyone. But the biggest mistake you can make is not following up with people you’ve met. Forget this, and you’ve wasted time, energy and money.

In person networking is a fun, change of pace from the frenzied world we live online (and real food tastes a whole lot better than virtual food!). Go in with a plan, have genuine conversations with the people you meet, and let networking flourish from there.

Photo credit by Murielle.

Use Public Speaking to Boost Your Business

Afraid of public speaking? My unscientific research shows the fear of public speaking more common than the fears of spiders, heights, darkness and flying. Learning to speak well is a surefire way to boost your business. But first, you’ll have to promote yourself as an expert in the field. I started out speaking and presenting to small, city- and county-based Bar associations, in front of as few as 4 lawyers. My pay was prestige, and I used these early events as currency for larger, more regional opportunities, such as Beasley Allen’s Legal Strategies, where I presented just before Thanksgiving to more than 1,000 attorneys. In your market, there are countless organizations welcoming new presenters and speakers. Volunteer whenever you can. Most won’t or don’t have a significant budget for professional speakers, and you’ll get valuable experience (not to mention making great business contacts).

Once you get to speak in public, make sure you know your material. During one seminar, the person manning my laptop not only disconnected my slideshow mid-stream, but then skipped over my most important slide! But since only I knew it was missing, I kept going, shaken, but not completely off track. If it wasn’t for my preparation, and for rehearsing over and over again, I would have been sunk.

Here are a few more tips to get better at public speaking. We all know smiling and eye contact are important, but if you want to make the best connection with your audience, show your passion and enthusiasm for the material. Move around purposely on stage, instead of pacing nervously back and forth. And if you make a mistake, only you know it happened, so keep your cool.

There are so many benefits to better public speaking — recognition from your peers and potential clients being a few. Public speaking even helps you conduct better sales and client meetings!

If you want to see me in person, I’ll be speaking later this month on “Inbound Marketing for Lawyers” in Oklahoma City and presenting a brief search engine marketing slideshow at a networking event in San Antonio. Send me an email () or DM on Twitter (@findtheclient) and I’ll be sure to recognize you in public!

Photo credit by neosiam.

How to Win Skeptical Clients

Thanks to our long recession, once wary clients are now borderline paranoid when it comes to engaging consultants or other service providers. Our job of convincing them they need our services has become increasingly difficult over the past few months. Here are a few ideas to win over more skeptics.

First, acknowledge your clients’ fears. It’s OK to admit your prices are perceived as high, but you better be able to back it up with lots of data and make an apples to oranges comparison. So instead of quoting a fee, quote in terms your clients understand — number of new customers, number of new inbound leads, etc.

Second, you’ve got to ask questions without sounding like a cross examination. Rookie consultants think they can right to the pitch, but the best ones do the business interview first. Asking questions around revenues, number of customers, earnings per customer, lifecycles of customer, etc. will help you make your apples to oranges comparison. Don’t forget, clients rarely believe anything you say, but they always believe what they say. So getting your business questions answered builds a foundation of trust.

Third, you can no longer pass off new business to your implementers and move on. When you discuss the implementation schedule, find out how your client would like to stay in touch — by phone, email or face-to-face meetings. Promise to stay involved and make sure you keep that commitment.

Finally, give up the idea that you need to “win”. You can’t be successful until you make your clients successful. So emphasize the value of working together, but don’t be so up front about it (especially since every other vendor on the planet is selling “value”). Build trust to stand out – be honest and don’t oversell your services. If you show genuine interest, solve their problems, and most importantly, help them achieve their goals, you’ll not only please your clients, you’ll astonish them!

Photo credit by brainloc.