This problem is so common and so prevalent that I can almost guarantee that every solicitor reading this article has this problem in their practise to a certain degree. If you do not take the time to understand the problem and correct it with yourself, your staff, and all of your marketing communications, it will constantly damage your business. This article is here to help you make the changes and to reap the rewards for doing so many times over.

This problem revolves around the common quotation:

“Enough about me, what do you think of me?”

This quote is used to talk about somebody that loves to hear the sound of their own voice and stories about them and how well they are doing. We all know someone like this. However, it is also a serious problem for solicitors in relation to all of their marketing communications.

If I can give you an example, I once received an email from a firm of solicitors looking to join a Personal Injury Panel. We first need to consider and understand the position that this firm of solicitors is coming from; they wanted me send them more clients.

You would assume that any approach would involve a review of the website of the company that they are approaching to at least find the name of the person that they are approaching for referrals. This is the email I received.

Dear Sirs,

We have recently taken on a new fee earner with specialist knowledge in the area of asbestos claims. Therefore, we are looking for more work. Please can you tell me how we can receive some work from you.

Yours sincerely

Enough about me, what do you think of me?.

If we look at this email in more detail, it sums up very well the problem I am talking about with law firm marketing.

Dear Sirs

Comment: My name is easy to find on the website yet this firm did not even look for it. This is a solicitor looking for referrals and they did not even have the time or inclination and are not prepared to make the effort to find out the correct contact name. A poor start…. and unfortunately it did not improve.

“We have recently taken on a new Fee Earner”

Comment: The start of their email should relate to how they could have helped me, not their firm and their needs. It should explain how they have reviewed the website, found it to be of interest and believe that they could be of benefit to our clients. Instead, the communication is all about the law firm and what matters to them. Whereas that is of course the reality of their situation, it is totally, wholly, absolutely and completely irrelevant to the person that they are approaching for referrals, on this occasion me.

The rest of the email has little to be said for it. However, the next major flaw with the email is that it was the only form of communication that I received. If you have any knowledge of direct marketing then you will know that you need to send more than one communication and you need to use different methods of communication to have the best prospects of success.

The email could and should have been followed up with a telephone call (although, as they did not have a name to speak to they would not have got very far) and in addition, a letter. They should persist until they finally manage to speak to me. Even if I had said there were no opportunities at that time moment, they should make a diary note to contact me again in three months. Persistence is vital as one communication only is unlikely to lead to referrals. I cannot stress this point enough. If you are approaching a business for referrals you should make contact at least seven to ten times to stand a chance. If you only send one email or one letter, you will rarely succeed.

Where Else Is “Enough about me” Endemic In Solicitors Marketing?

1. Websites.

The next place that this problem is commonly seen with law firm marketing is on websites. The home page of the website and each page within the website frequently starts with information about the law firm, their experience and how long they have been in business. Where it should start is from my position, i.e. my position as a potential client.

If I land on a Family Law page, how am I feeling? What concerns do I have running through my head? Am I looking for a divorce solicitor or a solicitor to provide me with contact for children?

If I land on a Will page, am I concerned that my family will receive everything they are entitled to?

If I land on a Personal Injury page, am I in hospital or immobile? Have I been prevented from returning to work due to my injuries and therefore am worrying about being able to pay the next bills?

This is the position you must start with on your website; hHow has your client arrived there and what are your client’s concerns?

If I land on your website, I am not interested initially in hearing about you, what I want to know is how you are going to help me!

Once you have thought about my position, and answered my initial concerns, you can then move on to explain how the experience in your firm puts you in the best position to help me from where I am now to where I want to be, but if you don’t take the time first of all to explain that you understand where I am now, why would I think you can help me?

Applying this test to your website could increase your new enquiries by at least ten fold. I have tried this with many law firms and it makes an incredible difference. Apply the test to your website now through fresh eyes and see if you are talking about your clients position or your firm’s needs.

2. Advertisements.

Another huge problem here. Many solicitors fail to consider what their client needs. 99% of solicitors’ advertisements start with the practise name at the top followed by a list of service and contact details. Whereas this is the perfect and only advertisement you should place in the Yellow Pages (where 62% of people visit just to obtain your phone number when they already know your business name – figures confirmed by Yell.com), in a newspaper advertisement you should only be placing a direct response advertisement. These are advertisements that give people a reason to read and contact you.

They do not want to hear your firm name and a list of your services, that is all about you and what you are trying to achieve. They want to hear how you can help them. Examples of headlines that you are welcome to use (but will need to adapt to fit your needs).

Conveyancing.

Moving home – Find Out Why Most House Moves Fail Before Exchange Of Contracts.

Wills.

Will your family get what’s coming to them?

Personal Injury.

Injured in an accident? Did you know that 50% of people who use claims companies do not keep all of their compensation?

Business Services.

Thinking of starting a business? Download our free guide: 7 legal issues you must fully understand before starting a business.

In all of these advertisement headlines, not once have I mentioned the firm or the firm’s needs. You must be thinking about your client and where they are starting from and not about your firm. By taking this action in all of your advertisements you will dramatically increase the response rate and the amount of business you obtain from it.

Summary. Always ask the question “What does the referrer or potential client care about”? If you find yourself starting an email, advertisement, website page with your firm’s name or information about your firm, you can be confident you are starting in the wrong position. As the famous quote goes when asking for directions, “Well, if that’s where you want to get to I wouldn’t start from here”.

Even today, with Twitter mentioned in mainstream media daily, many top executives – including marketing execs – are confused or uncertain on how to effectively utilize Twitter to market their business or service. Twitter, the popular “micro-blogging” tool, is not just a service that allows every-day-Joes the opportunity to share irrelevant stories about their day (read: “going to the gym”), but a great tool to increase both revenues and brand awareness for executives. Here are some tips to get the most out of Twitter:

BUILD YOUR FOLLOWING

The first step, naturally, is to have an audience. Celebrities and politicians alike have embraced the micro-blogging phenomenon, leading to its permanent fixture in pop culture. Political campaigns have used Twitter to mobilize armies of supporters, raise funds, and spread the political message.

BUILD YOUR BRAND

There is a delicate balance between being open and honest and revealing too much on Twitter. I tell my clients, “be authentic, not transparent”. Your following will appreciate your authenticity more than your over-sharing.

DIRECT COMMUNICATION

Aside from authentic communication, nothing builds a loyal, dedicated following like direct communication. Several large corporations are able to search (in real time) for their brand and address problems immediately. Never before has a company had such access to their customers. Traditional media houses do not allow for such instant communication to attend to their customer’s needs.

PROVIDE VALUABLE CONTENT

Rather than constantly selling your products, constantly provide great content. Get over the fact that everything produced by your brand is proprietary. In the age of instant access, users have become accustomed to free content (this is both good and bad). The more useful content you give away, the more attention you will gain.

DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

Twitter is a great vehicle to generate visitors to your company website (or Facebook Fan Page), where you can convert them into customers. Useful content, direct and authentic communication only builds your creditability online and in turn, your brand as a whole.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE

Twitter is potentially the most effective way for marketing communication to turn to marketing wildfire. In recent history, many stories break, are confirmed, and become widespread on Twitter before mainstream media has even heard about it. Your brand can use that type of potential to announce major product launches or other industry news.

MARKET RESEARCH

Never before has any industry had such a measuring tool for any brand or product. Monitor Twitter for your name, brand, products, and competition for a real sense of how your clients view things.

CONVERSATIONS

Twitter is real-time, meaning you have thousands of potential customers and followers standing in your preverbal lobby waiting to hear what you have to say – likewise, they expect you to listen to them. Chat and engage with your followers in a consistent “voice”.

FREE ADVERTISING

Today, people are bombarded with THOUSANDS of advertisements a day. Twitter allows you to reach people who are actively interested in learning more about your brand. This attentive ‘Army of Few But Loyal’ is more valuable than a billboard passively seen by millions

BONUS: FOLLOW OTHER EXECS

Here is a list of other CEOs using Twitter. Follow as many of them as you can to learn how they use it. Take what you like, and leave what you don’t. Not all of them are perfect – in fact, there is no “perfect” way to use Twitter. It is still in the early stages of finding its identity.

EXTRA BONUS: PROMOTE OTHERS

It doesn’t make much “traditional advertising sense”, but Twitter isn’t traditional advertising. Media has change with the introduction of ‘Social Networking’. Use your platform to promote your followers, colleagues, and partners. A ratio of 3:1 is preferred. Social media is not about promoting yourself as it is celebrating the “social” interaction between individuals and brands. See you on Twitter!

What is working right now in this tough market as the best, reasonable cost mix for any organization is finding out who your customer types are (profile them), and then do the following:
- Events
- News Releases (not necessarily to the press)
- Web Promotion
- Radio Advertising
- E-blast Newsletters
- Direct Mail Advertising

All must be highly targeted at your top purchasing demographics and done as a campaign – not a series of unconnected media activity. It works right now!

The strategy starts by figuring out exactly who your buyers are and creating unique events for them, and people just like them. This article will cover customer research and future articles will cover the events and the media mix shown above.

Who are Your Customers? Once You Find Out, You Can Find More Just Like Them.
Find out the demographics and other information about your best customers. Check with your top sales people, look at customer records, hold focus groups with your customers, call them, poll them, find out as much as you can about the following:
- What is their household income?
- What is their age?
- Where do they live?
- Single, married, kids?
- Have they bought before?
- Why did they buy your product or service?
- Was there a particular benefit, feature, message that brought them to you?
- What media do they use: Which TV channels, radio stations, websites, magazines and newspapers, etc.?
- How did they hear about you? Careful! This is tenuous at best. Most won’t remember or won’t tell you accurately for a number of reasons but if most say the same thing it might be reliable.
- What are their favorite charities?

You’re looking for trends, not private or individual information.

After you figure out your best customer data, create customer profiles so you can use the information to:
- Create events to appeal directly to them
- Decide when is the best time to have an event and advertise
- Figure out where to have events
- Position your product or service vs. the competition
- Create a message to use to write news releases and other copy
- Target web sites you can use to use to promote (including social networking sites and groups)
- Promote on specific radio stations
- Get potential addresses to use for direct mail

Next article, Unique Events!

Market Opportunity

The root of the Netherlands’ economy lies upon its free capitalistic market. The Netherlands’ economic freedom score is 77, making its economy the 12th freest in the 2009 Index of Economic Freedom. It has the 16th largest economy in the world and ranks 10th in GDP (nominal) per capita.

According to the CIA Factbook, the GDP is currently 670.2 billion USD and the Purchasing Power Parity is 2.8 billion USD while the Dutch are experiencing 1.8% real growth, 4.5% unemployment, and 1.6% inflation rates. Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek reports the average disposable income of Dutch households amounted to 28.5 thousand euro in 2004. The real disposable income of Dutch households rose by nearly 4 percent in 2007. Households spending exceeded household income by 2 billion euro. In 2006, Dutch households spent 6 billion more than they received in income.

With a population of 16.7 million, the country has been one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the four largest investors in the United States. The increasing ties of the Netherlands with global trade are reflected in the increasing shares of exports and imports in GDP. Data from the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek shows that exports rose from to 77% of GDP in 2008 in addition to imports rising to 68%. Despite its small size, the Netherlands ranks seventh in the world in total value of its corporations. Furthermore, its online retail market is amongst Western Europe’s largest, with the Netherlands also ranked as one of Europe’s top five e-commerce nations states techpubinc.com.

The Netherlands began circulating the euro currency on January 1, 2002. The Euro remains strong against the US Dollar, with 1 Euro equaling 1.4114 USD. Because of the weakening of the US dollar for the last two years, the Euro has appreciated vis-à-vis US dollar (x-rates.com). So steeply has the greenback fallen in value against the Euro that economists are talking about the dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency, a position it has held since 1945.

Best Industry Segments

The Dutch industry is diversified, with a variety of businesses that range from manufacturing, mining, and energy production to construction and chemical manufacturing. The government initiated many programs to encourage the development of new industries, specifically, aerospace industry, biotechnology, and microelectronics. Figures from Eurostat indicate that, in 2007, the Netherlands was the EU’s third top exporting country after Germany and France. Dutch exports also grew substantially in 2007. If the current trend continues, the Netherlands will move up to take second position in 2008. Relative to other countries, the Netherlands exported large volumes of food products, gas oil and natural gas.

Regulatory and Tariff Landscape

Along with the United States, the Netherlands has consistently been one of the main advocates of international free trade and the reduction of duties and tariffs on goods and services. The average tariff rate is low. The Netherlands’ trade policy is the same as that of other members of the European Union. The common EU weighted average tariff rate was 2.1% in 2005 according to the Heritage Foundation. The EU policy upholds non-tariff barriers in agricultural and manufacturing subsidies, import restrictions for some goods and services, market access restrictions in some services sectors, non-transparent and restrictive regulations and standards, and inconsistent customs administration across EU members. Supplementary biotechnology and pharmaceuticals rules exceed EU policy.

In order for many products in the European Economic Area (EEA) market to pass the consumer safety, health, and environmental requirements, it must receive a CE marking. By affixing the CE marking, the manufacturer asserts that the item meets all the essential “Health and Safety” requirements of the relevant European Directive(s) that provide for the CE marking. Examples of European Directives requiring CE marking include toy safety, machinery, low-voltage equipment, medical devices and electromagnetic compatibility.

Online Marketing

Based on statistics from internetworldstats.com, there are currently 13,791,800 Internet users in the Netherlands, with a penetration rate of 82.9%. The Netherlands is ranked 7th among the top internet countries in the European Union yet 2nd behind Greenland with the highest internet penetration rate. Over the span of eight years (2000-2008), user growth stands at 253.6%. In terms of type of connection, the Netherlands exhibits a positive trend towards broadband internet adoption. It can be located 4th on the list in broadband penetration, leading the OECD along with Iceland, Finland, and Norway. Despite the wide availability of Internet connections, nearly 4 million people (about 25% of the population) have never used the Internet at all according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Online Language Preferences

The two official languages of the Netherlands are Dutch and Frisian. However, Dutch is the mother tongue of almost all people in the Netherlands. The 500,000 inhabitants of Friesland, a province of the Netherlands, speak Frisian. Most of Dutch people speak at least one foreign language, mostly English that is taught at school during the basic education. Many Dutch people speak also German, which is similar to Dutch language and some of them speak French. Like any other country, internet users prefer to search in their native language, Dutch.

Search Engine Profile

Data from a checkit.nl shows Google Netherlands (Google.nl) overwhelmingly leads the way as the top search engine with 95%. Ilse.nl and live.nl take the second and third spot, respectively.

Summary

Netherlands being the small country is a big player in the world’s trade and the global transfer of capital. Its thriving and open economy serves as an inviting potential global trading partner to other countries. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable account surplus, and an important role as a European transportation hub. Based on the current and future potential of the market, Global eMarketer ranks the Netherlands as a Tier I market for global online market opportunity.