Attracting Local Clients

How this Barrie Lawyer Grew His Practice, One Blog Post at a Time

August 17, 2012 By Linda Dessau

When he first started blogging, Brian Galbraith of Galbraith Family Law thought that a blog was pretty much the same as a newsletter. Soon he realized that it was more like a library, a library he continues to build. And while he's creating new content, visitors are still finding and reading his older content, evident in his blog's statistics and reader comments.

Just like a library, Brian's website and blog have become a trusted reference for at least one local service agency, who repeatedly refer clients to his website so they can get helpful information that's easy to understand. The agency appreciates having this valuable local source of free information for their clients who are in vulnerable situations.

Giving away this information promotes goodwill with his readers. Whether or not they're in a position to hire him now, that goodwill helps his law firm stay "top of mind" until they're needed.

Familiarity brings trust

The firm's familiarity in the community has resulted from the cumulative effect of all of Brian's marketing efforts, both offline and online. For example, they've had good results from using Facebook ads and Google ads, and the SEO benefits of blogging have also helped the site show up reliably at the top of search engines pages.

Whether you're driving along Dunlop Street West in Barrie or Googling information about divorce and family law, you will see Galbraith Family Law – again and again. And that kind of repeat exposure helps prospective clients get an impression of safety, familiarity and trust. When they need help, people tend to choose the name they recognize.

Once they pick up the phone or come into the office, Galbraith's excellent customer service practices come into play. From free WiFi and refreshments in the waiting room, to a genuinely warm welcome and a kind, listening ear.

Local connections

Partly in thanks to his affiliation with LexBlog, Brian has readers and guest post submissions from all over the world. Having guest bloggers eases his own writing load (that's Tip #6 in my time-saving blogging tips for busy business owners), but what pleases him the most is featuring other local professionals so they can cross-refer and help build each other's practices.

About eight years ago Brian Galbraith was on his own. Today he has six busy associate lawyers and six support staff, and the firm has been voted "Best of Barrie" by readers of the Barrie Examiner for the past four years in a row.

Brian jokes that spending time on his website and blog are just a way to avoid work, but the truth is that he attributes much of the firm's growth to his consistent efforts to create and share valuable content online. Brian believes the key to his success has been spending time each week working "on" his practice instead of just working "in" it.

Five Ways Blogging Gives You More Confidence as a Business Owner

July 30, 2012 By Linda Dessau

“Introverts have natural advantages to finding clients and making money online . . .” – Denise Wakeman

The above quote comes from the sign-up page for Denise Wakeman’s Visibility for Introverts program. We chatted briefly about the enthusiastic response to her offer, and how it really seems to have struck a nerve with so many business owners.

In my July 2010 blog post, Blogging: Passive marketing, or an introvert’s dream come true?, I discuss how even though blogging seems like a passive activity, for an introvert it’s actually an ideal way to actively engage with prospective clients and a wider network.

For introverts and other shy networkers, the benefits of blogging don’t stop there. The skills and practices you apply to be an effective blogger will help you build confidence in all aspects of your business.

Here’s how:

You’ll feel like an expert – Once you start compiling a collection of relevant and valuable blog posts, you’ll be able to see your expertise in black and white.
You’ll have (and be) a conversation starter on social media – Best of all, by sharing your blog posts with links and “teasers,” you’ll be starting or joining conversations about the exact topics your ideal clients are interested in.
You’ll know that your website is always on call – With blog posts available on your website, prospective clients can always learn more about you – and how you can help them. As long as you keep your blog up to date with relevant information, you can trust that your website is making a good first impression.
You’ll clarify your ideas and marketing messages – As Jeff Korhan points out in this blog post about the business of professional speaking, “When you aren’t speaking [marketing/networking], you should be writing,” because “blogging polishes your ideas.” Blogging can give you sound bytes to use for media, networking or talking to prospective clients. This will be a really helpful head start if you’re usually shy in these situations.
You’ll have the seedlings of a book – You can put your blog posts together to create a book, special report or other writing project. It’s no accident that the word authority begins with author. Having your ideas in print is a great confidence booster and will also bring higher respect and credibility from others.

So while you’re revelling in the new ideal clients you’ll attract with your blog content, be sure to also enjoy these confidence-boosting benefits of blogging.

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A Blogging Schedule is Key for this Barrie Real Estate and Estates Lawyer

July 14, 2012 By Linda Dessau

Cesia Green is a Barrie real estate and estates lawyer and a partner with Wall-Armstrong & Green. She blogs at wallarmstrong.wordpress.com/. I asked Cesia to tell me more about her experiences with blogging and the results she's seen.

How did you get into blogging?

"I went to a seminar run by Joanna Hoffman of Oomph Group on different ways of marketing for professionals. One thing that came up was using blogs and other digital methods to share knowledge as a way of making connections and therefore clients. At the end of the seminar, I went to my (now) partner with the idea for a practice-related blog."

What were your initial goals for the blog?

"My initial goal was to share knowledge. There is a lot of very technical information out there in my practice areas, as well as a lot of fun stories, and I enjoy sharing them with people who might otherwise never come across them."

Have your goals changed as time went on?

"They haven’t really; I still enjoy blogging primarily as a knowledge-sharing tool. I am always reading other peoples’ blogs and if I come across something interesting, or read an interesting article in the news, one of my first thoughts is how I can reference it in a blog post to better educate my clients and colleagues, both current and potential."

When we met, Cesia also told me that her firm's newsletters are a breeze to put together now that she's blogging. She simply chooses the best blog posts from the previous quarter.

What kind of feedback and responses have you gotten?

"I often feel like I’m shouting into the wind, so it’s great when I hit on a topic that gets some comments. I was given the opportunity twice to guest post on the livehigh.com blog, which was great. I have also been interviewed for a couple of articles, and occasionally get calls from other lawyers who have had similar issues to mine to discuss how they were resolved."

How do you keep up with blogging on a regular basis?

"I schedule absolutely everything in my life, and blogging is no exception. I have task reminders set for my two regular posts each week (estates on Tuesdays, real estate on Fridays) and I make sure that I have them up by then. When I’m really organized, I will do a whole lot of writing all at once and pre-schedule the posts."

What are your future plans for the blog?

"I intend to keep at it! I have always loved writing, and this is a great way for me to do that without the pressure of trying to write something longer for formal publication."

That's good to hear, Cesia. You're helping people understand two complicated areas of the law, and ones that so many of us will run into over the course of our lives.

Business Blogging Tree Examples from Barrie

July 9, 2012 By Linda Dessau

We've got a ways to go before we fulfill my vision of an orchard full of blogging trees (business blogs) here in Barrie, but let's take a look at how we're doing so far.

Branding yourself as an expert

For an example of how to use a "how to article" as a branch that stems from the business goal of establishing yourself as an industry expert, check out Carole Schaefer's article, Five Tips for Better Video.

Carole's tips give readers practical solutions for common video mishaps, and demonstrate that as the owner of Sugar Productions, she knows her stuff! Readers will be pleased to improve the quality of their do-it-yourself video attempts, and they'll definitely know who to turn to when they want professional quality videos. Plus, they're only one click away if they want to see samples of Carole's work or find out more about her.

Listening for blog ideas from your audience

For an example of a business owner who is catching ideas as they rain down from her audience, check out this post from PC Service on Site about hacker emails. It shows that co-owner Meredith Skinner (with husband Peter Skinner) is listening to what people are talking about. Then she provides practical solutions for dealing with the problem.

The team approach to blogging

Another way to lighten the load of weekly blogging is to take a team approach like Barriston LLP. These busy legal bloggers also provide examples of how to spread the word about your blog, with individual bloggers like Joanne McPhail setting the wind in motion with tweets to her network about the latest posts.

Giving your own expert slant on relevant content from around the web

Cesia Green from Wall-Armstrong & Green taps into the visual power of infographics by linking to one about the extreme rise of funeral costs. She could have even opted to embed the image right into her post (instructions are at the bottom of the page where the infographic is hosted). Cesia also demonstrates how even when you're linking to connective content that someone else created, you can still highlight your own expertise by including your own personal slant on the topic. She lets the reader know precisely why the material will be relevant, interesting or entertaining for her audience.

Making a personal connection through video blog posts

We'll end this blog post where we began – by talking about video. This time we'll use Kirk Evans and his company Fast Solution as our example. Kirk has begun posting "how to" videos on his site, including one where he speaks directly to the camera – giving prospective clients the chance to get to know him. Even though the videos are not officially part of his blog (Kirk, if you're reading this, please take this as a constructive suggestion), he could easily turn them into individual blog posts with descriptive titles, along with at least a few sentences about which problem is being solved in each video. That way he won't lose the people who prefer to read rather than watch (like me!).

I would love to feature more Barrie business blogs here at Content Mastery Guide. If you'd like to improve your blog and be featured as a case study in your very own post, apply here for my free blog topic offer.

An Orchard of Blogging Trees for Barrie and Beyond

July 2, 2012 By Linda Dessau

Last week I had the chance to speak to Signature System Coach Kathy Mallary, and she asked me a very poignant question:

"If you could wave a magic wand and transform every business owner in Barrie into an effective business blogger, what would that do for your community?"

My blogging vision for Barrie's business community

If every business owner in Barrie was blogging effectively, we would see huge benefits – both as businesses and as consumers and clients of those businesses.

As business owners, we would have meaningful, relevant content to draw on as we participate in social media, networking events and in structured meetings with prospective clients. We would have a central message from which to build all of our marketing communications. This would harness our efforts, save time and stress, and give us more confidence about answering questions and following up.

Because we were being specific and authentic in our writing, each of our unique personalities – values, quirks, interests, hobbies, background and all – would shine through and our ideal clients would see that we're a good fit to meet their needs. We would spend less time negotiating with the wrong clients and more time working with the right clients.

Our "competitors" would become our colleagues who we mention, link to and share openly with. We would trust that their ideal clients are not the same as ours. We would have an open, collaborative and generous relationship with other businesses.

As consumers and clients, we would be able to seek out and find information that helps us make choices in our lives and our businesses. We could trust the people we choose to do business with because we would already feel like we know them.

When visiting a business's website, we would find regular updates that give us a glance behind the scenes, and reveal more about the people involved in the business; the culture of the company. We would know almost instantly if this is someone we want to take the next step with, keep following or steer away from. This would save us both time and stress.

A community of thriving businesses and confident consumers who are happy to spend their money locally – that is my dream for Barrie!

How to plant a blogging tree that will grow your business

If you're a business owner who wants to live out my vision and join the orchard of blogging trees in Barrie, here are links to six blog posts that will take you through the process of planning and planting your blogging tree:

How would your local or online business community benefit from planting and growing an orchard of blogging trees?

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She offers ghostwriting, editing, training and consulting.