Best Practices for Becoming a Rainmaker on the Internet, Part 4 of 5

All this week, I am giving readers several of the best practices in becoming a rainmaker on the Internet.
 Today’s post is about educational marketing on the Internet.

Develop educational tools and promote them on your website. Education-based marketing is one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of lawyers. There is a great amount of basic information you know about your practice area that prospects want and need to know. Think about some of the questions your clients have about child custody and divorce or how to avoid getting sued by employees or ways to protect their intellectual property. Identify their frequently asked questions or biggest challenges and put together a short report (three to six pages long), a PowerPoint presentation, or even an audio CD, and offer a free copy to website visitors who give you their contact information. (Remember, if you cannot get visitors to call you directly, the second-best alternative is to persuade them to give you their contact information with permission to contact them.) Give your education material a creative title such as “7 Questions You Must Ask before You Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer,” or “The 10 Deadly Mistakes People Make with Their Estate Plan,” or even “5 Strategies Inventors Can Use to Protect and Monetize Their Inventions.”

This kind of free educational information is a great tool you can use to start building relationships with many people who need your help but aren’t ready to walk in your door. It is not enough simply to offer people a free consultation. Almost every lawyer does that. Take it one step further and give them some great information that will help them think through the issues and challenges they are facing. Once you have created these educational tools, find every way you can to give them away to as many people as possible.


Key Action Points:
•    Use an educational report, white paper, or audio CD to inform prospects, clients, and referral sources.
•    Every prospect has questions and challenges. Identify them and give them some information that indicates you can resolve their challenges and answer their questions.

Read more of the series:

Best Practices for Becoming a Rainmaker on the Internet, Part 1 of 5.

Best Practices for Becoming a Rainmaker on the Internet, Part 2 of 5.

Best Practices for Becoming a Rainmaker on the Internet, Part 3 of 5.

Best Practices for Becoming a Rainmaker on the Internet, Part 5 of 5.