My name is Bill Hauser. My company, SMB Team, handles the marketing for hundreds of law firms across the United States. With the panic right now over Coronavirus, lawyers are wondering how they should respond. We’re getting questions like:
• How can I push virtual meetings with my leads and clients?
• How can I push virtual meetings with my leads and clients?
• Are internet searches going to plummet?
• Should I pause my online marketing?
The last time there was this much fear in the air was in 2008, when my family went bankrupt. If you know my story, we went bankrupt for 2 reasons in 2008
• We abandoned our marketing
• We ignored the trends
Based on my failures in 2008, I felt it was my obligation to write this document for you. This is a firm reminder for you to not make the same mistakes I made in 2008. Do not let this fear and uncertainty creep into your business.
The biggest mistake you could ever make is to freeze up when your competitors are in fear. Your obsessive focus right now should be on the opposite. How can you EXPAND with bravery as your competitors are shaking?!
Me writing this document is a perfect example of expanding into the fear, rather than running from it. I will generate hundreds of leads from this one document, which took me one hour to write. You should be thinking about how to do the same thing in your market. Get creative and expand!
Lawyer Marketing Tips:
Tip #1: Expand Your Marketing (while your competitors pull back)
The Kauffman Foundation sponsored a 2009 study that found over 50% of Fortune 500 companies were launched during a recession. In other words, these businesses were able to capture immediate market-share while their competition was in fear. Isn’t a virus similar to a recession, when it comes to instilling fear in your competition? When there is fear in the air, it is your best (and cheapest) opportunity to expand your brand.
My family went bankrupt in 2008 because we did not do this. We pulled back, and came out the other side way behind.
Tip #2: Do Not Pause Your Ads
If you want to be a great leader for your staff and instill confidence in your future, do not pause any of your online ads. Non-confident business owners look for all of the reasons to not spend money. Strong, future-oriented business owners (leaders) look for arbitrage opportunities (when attention is cheap and less competitive). If you pause your ads, you will put your business and your team at risk of being stuck behind the ball when this temporary blip is over.
Tip #3: There Will Be More Internet Searches (for cheaper)… Capitalize People will be spending more time at home, especially on their personal devices (laptops, tablets & mobile devices). On personal devices, people make more private internet searches. Last week alone, we saw a 30% increase in searches for lawyers online.
Do not miss out on this opportunity! Since your less smart competitors will be backing out, you will be spending less money to get in front of leads than ever before. Yes, you may get more form submission leads (since people won’t want to come in for consultations). Which leads to my next point…
Tip #4: Push ‘Virtual Consultations’ To All Of Your Leads
Make sure you email your most recent leads and offer them free screen-share consultations. People will likely have more time on their hands to talk to lawyers. Take advantage of this now! Understand This will not Cause A Recession. Look at the past 12 Pandemics: HIV, Pneumonic Plague, SARS, Avian Flu, Dengue Fever, Swine Flu, Cholera, MERS, Ebola, Measles, Zika, Rubeola.
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Only 1 of the 12 resulted in a 6-month & 12-month downward change in the S&P 500. 11 of 12 resulted in significant economic growth. Pandemics do not automatically cause economic downturns. Typically, systemic market corrections cause recessions. The economy has been on an upward trend for a while now. Let’s not commingle this virus with what may already be coming in the next 2-3 years. Could it come sooner? Yes. But, this virus may be a blip, not the cause of any macro-economic shift.
Tip #5: Use This Time To Plan Your Next 2-3 Moves
While everyone else is freaking out, use this critical time to plan out your next 2-3 strategic moves. When the hysteria calms down, you will have a clear action plan, while your competitors will be playing catch-up ball like the weaklings they are.
Do you need to improve your SEO, PPC, Social Media or Website marketing strategy? NOW is the time to do the things that you’ve been pushing off.
Tip #6: Stay Calm and Confident
Reassure your employees, clients and leads that you will not let this affect you. But most importantly, stay safe and stay calm. ◆
