Speaker 1: 0:00

You're tuned into the Marketing Law Cast with James Campbell. Brace yourselves for game-changing digital marketing tips and exclusive interviews with industry gurus and top-tier attorneys, smashing the six and seven-figure barrier. It's time to drive your practice to success. Welcome to the Marketing Law Cast.

Speaker 2: 0:17

Welcome to part one of this two-part series on building authority online and why authoritative firms win all the best clients. Today, I'll cover the importance and technical aspects of SEO and online authority. In part two, we'll hear from real-life clients as they share their data and what their increased authority has done for their practice and for their revenue. All right, everybody, welcome to today's masterclass. I'm your host, james Campbell. I'm the Chief Growth Officer for Integrity Marketing Solutions, which really just means helping our clients achieve that level of growth they desire within their practice through different marketing channels, mess, and in today's masterclass, we're going to be talking about SEO specifically for estate and elder lawyers, and we're going to talk about how authoritative firms those that show up well in the Google rankings okay that have built authority in their community, how they really develop and receive all of the best clients. We're going to talk about the different types of leads that are out there and why the authoritative firms gather all of the best clients. So let's go ahead and get into today's training. So what does it mean today for SEO? Does it still matter to estate and elder lawyers? Well, on the right, you'll see sort of an outline of the Google's page one. At the top, you'll see the ads the local service ads and then your paid search. Then you'll see the map pack in the middle there and organic search. So I'm just going to go out on a limb here and assume that all of you here understand how Google page one works and what these different methods are. The page at the top maps in the middle, then organic listings are down below that. So just giving an outline of the real estate on Google's page one. Now here's where things get interesting. 84% of all of the clicks go to these seven listings the top three there in the map pack and then the top four in the organic listing. 84% 84% of all the clicks on the web on Google go to these people. Here let's talk about why that's so vitally important.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Ranking in these spaces, guys. It signals earned authority versus paid authority. People know that you're paying to be in the sponsored links or in the local service ads and they also know that if you're ranking in these map packs or in these top organic listings, that you've earned that. That's not something you could pay for. That was something that was strictly 100% earned and high-ranking authoritative firms. They earn or win all of the high-quality leads, and lead flow is super important.

Speaker 2: 3:14

As you're building your estate planning practice, you constantly need new leads, and a new meeting means that you're going to meet with that person and not somebody else. So, being in control of who your leads are, are you getting the highest quality leads or are you not? A lot of times, attorneys will come to us and say I want better qualified leads. Well, where are those better qualified leads? They're the ones clicking on these searches right here at the top. But why are some leads better than others? I think it's really important for us to understand the different types of leads that are out there. You're going to come across and engage with all four of these types of leads, so we're going to talk about how you attract the best ones and how and why, if you're getting the worst ones, why that's happening the worst ones, why that's happening. So, okay, there are four types of leads. You have two types of buyers people that actually can and maybe will buy your service, and then you have two types of non-buyers, people that will not hire you. The answer is no. They will give you no money and they will not pass go. Okay, let's talk about the buyers first, the two types of buyers that you have are buyers in pain or buyers in power.

Speaker 2: 4:36

Now let's talk about the buyers in pain first. Buyers in pain have already self-identified their biggest problems to solve. They've had the conversations with their family. They've seen things pan out. There's been a diagnosis, something has happened. Because of this, they're going to be honest with you. They're going to be ready to explain and tell you what's going on in their life, how bad it's been for them, how long it's been a problem. They also have an immediate need. Like I said, there's been some sort of event, some sort of life event that's happened, that this buyer in pain is ready to solve, which means they're ready to hire you. Now, when people are in this state the buyer in pain they're focused on getting the best result and because of that, they want the best attorney. And for these folks, because the pain is so high, price is not a concern. I'm going to expand a little bit about the buyers in pain.

Speaker 2: 5:36

Now imagine that you have an injury. Let's say you have a pencil stuck in your neck, deep into your neck, and you go to the doctor's office. You go to the ER. You're not going to ask well, which doctor is going to perform this surgery. Could you explain to me the method in which you're going to perform this? What tools are you going to use? Will you explain that to me, and how much is this going to cost? I'd like to talk to two or three other people to find out the cost of getting this injury in my jugular fixed. Ridiculous, right. We don't ask those questions when we go to the ER. We want to get fixed, my friends, the same thing applies to the buyers in pain. Price is not a concern for the buyers in pain. Their ability and willingness to accept your authority and to trust what you say, to diagnose their problem, to write a prescription, to perform the surgery even they trust you in that and they're ready to move forward. They're anxious to get on your calendar and hire you. Those are the buyers in pain. Those are really also the best leads, because after that, we have our buyers in power.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Now the buyers in power are much different than the buyers in pain. The buyers in power have identified the problem, but they minimize the significance of the problem. They minimize the impact of this problem on their family and on their legacy. They have a need to get estate planning done. They want your service. They need your service, but they need help clarifying the pain. They're not walking in with a serious injury. They're the types of clients estate planning clients that will say, yeah, my kids get along great. Oh yeah, they wouldn't fight over a million dollars. Not at all. They're wonderful kids and they don't talk necessarily about all the stuff that goes along with those kids. Maybe a little bit of denial. So the buyer's in pain wants to buy, but they need some convincing, they need clarity around the problem. This means you're going to have to sell to the buyers in power around the problem. This means you're going to have to sell to the buyers in power. Now, price is considered, but it's not a barrier to closing, okay. And the buyers in power will also ask surface level questions, but if they are an actual buyer in power, they will also relent and give you honest answers as long as you probe. So these are the two types of prospects, the two types of leads that you're going to get, that are potential buyers.

Speaker 2: 8:10

Okay, now let's look at the non-buyers. There's two types of non-buyers as well, and the first category is the tricky one, and that's the tire kicker, or the looky-loo as we might call them. Now the thing to know about the tire kickers is that they will not close. The answer is no. They will give you zero funds. The odds of them signing an engagement letter are zero. They will not become a client. They are a non-buyer. And you've got to be able to recognize these tire kickers because they will disguise themselves as a buyer in power Okay, they will not disguise themselves as a buyer in pain. They're going to bring up price very quickly in the conversation and they keep asking about the price. They won't just ask once.

Speaker 2: 9:08

Sometimes the buyers in power will ask about the price because they're curious, not because price is a limiter for them. Okay, because they're curious. The tire kickers. Price is the barrier. They simply cannot afford the service and they know it. So they're trying to get as much free information from you as they possibly can. That's the difference with the buyers or the tire kickers. They'll keep asking you about price. They'll tell you that they're talking to multiple law firms or that they're trying to get a second opinion and they won't make a decision. They keep kicking the can down the road. They'll want to talk to more people. They'll want to talk to more people. They'll want to again call other law firms, whatever it is. They can't make a decision, and the thing to remember is that price is the barrier. For them. Price is the barrier, and so we have to recognize that you may do a very good job on your sales strategy, but they still won't move. That's because they're a tire kicker, they're a non-buyer, and they are looking for the cheapest service. Okay, they're trying to get expert quality for nominal price, so what they're trying to do is maybe even figure out a way to DIY. The point is they're not making a commitment. It's a time waste for you and for them.

Speaker 2: 10:25

And the fourth category of your potential leads is the non-buyer, and they're easily identified. Essentially, they want something that you do not provide, and so very simple, easy to sort out the non-buyers. But the tire kickers will pretend to be buyers in power. Okay, now, why is this relevant to your SEO? Okay, which leads would you prefer? Okay, which ones would you like to have the most of? If you could have one type of these leads coming through day after day, consistently, what type of lead would you want? Which one? Would it be? The tire kickers? No, you want the buyers in pain, right, you want the best leads. You want folks that are gonna recognize your authority. They're ready to buy. They have an easily identifiable problem. It's a big deal to them and they want to solve it. Okay, the buyers in pain are who you want and, my friends, the data tells us that the best, most motivated buyers in pain, they click on these authoritative listings. This is where they go. The 84% Okay, the folks that are doing a high intent search, looking for an attorney to solve a big problem. They click on this stuff here. Okay, so what does an authoritative, high ranking law firm experience? Well, if you're in those listings, if you're in that spot, if you have built your authority and it takes a lot of work we're going to talk about how we build that authority, but we're talking about why it's important.

Speaker 2: 12:05

First, the big thing is consistency in lead flow. The consistent flow of being the authoritative firm means that there are always people that need your help and if they are looking for the most authoritative firm and they find you, you're going to continue that consistency of lead flow month after month. You're also going to have clients that trust the firm's authority. They believe you when you say this is what needs to happen. This is the plan we need to take. This is how we solve these problems. They believe you. They're motivated clients with real reasons to hire you. Remember they're buyers in pain. That's who the authoritative firms gather when it comes to their leads. Also, it creates for you the ability to support a premium fee for your plans. So no more low-balling or feeling like you have to discount or you have to bundle so many things together. That happens when you're working with tire kickers, when those are your leads.

Speaker 2: 13:09

Authoritative high-ranking firms also experience great reviews the best clients that you solve the biggest issues for. They are the most grateful and they're the most likely to leave you a review, and, in fact, a glowing review online. This leads to a great reputation and when we have consistently increasing lead flow, this leads to consistently increasing revenue. That's what the authoritative high-ranking firms are experiencing. What does a non-authoritative low-ranking law firm experience?

Speaker 2: 13:41

A firm that has no authority online or in their community as the go-to estate planning attorney? This leads to prospects with no money that simply can't afford your service. Prospects that immediately ask about price the tire kickers. Prospects that take forever to decide or to make a decision, or that grill you with question after question after question, or prospects that tell you that they're talking to other lawyers. I've got three other meetings this week. Maybe they believe that you charge too much and they'll beat you up on price or say that's ridiculous and make you feel bad about charging a reasonable fee. And what this leads to is reliance on referral relationships or pay per lead channels like LegalMatch, where you're just paying to get some sort of lead through, and again those folks are typically looking for a lower cost solution. That wraps up part one of building online authority. Be sure to catch part two of this series, where real life clients share what increasing online authority has done for their practice and their revenue. On the next episode of the Marketing Lawcast.

Speaker 1: 14:51

That's a wrap on this edition of the Marketing Lawcast. Thanks for joining us Head over to imsrockscom for more growth focused insights. If you're ready to skyrocket your firm's marketing, don't hesitate to book a free strategy call with our team right on our website. Here's to your success. See you next time.