This attorney saw a big jump in the ROI of most of his marketing efforts after he made one big change.
The Challenge
Los Angeles divorce attorney David Pisarra knew that he had to make himself and his firm unique to win new business. He initially had difficulty standing out from the crowd of other lawyers vying for new clients.
Differentiation
“I think the hardest thing for any lawyer is developing a marketing program that works consistently. As a small firm I’ve had to learn all about marketing, advertising and public relations. Understanding the differences in cost, effectiveness and utility has been a long process that is very expensive in both dollars and time. Marketing is one prong of a multi-prong program to build a law firm. “The branding that is involved is crucial to having an effective marketing program, but no one teaches that in law school, so many of us revert to the staid and typical stuffy branding that makes all law firms look equivalent. That’s not good in a market where you need to stand out to get clients and make a difference. Over the years we have had full page Yellow Pages ads, TV ads, radio ads, direct mail, newspaper advertising, door hangers and all of it has worked to some limited degree.”
Marketing Strategy
To overcome this shortcoming David focused on who his core client was and he tailored his marketing message to attract that same model client. He rebranded his firm and himself to avoid being just another attorney. David also used becoming an expert source for print articles, podcasting, creating online videos, teaching courses, referrals and book writing to bring in new clients.
Identify Your Ideal Client and Sell Directly to Them
“When we focused our marketing on Men’s Family Law and Father’s Rights and became MensFamilyLaw.com, we noticed a sizable uptick in our return on investment in our internet advertising and internet search rankings. This demonstrated to me that one of the largest unknown problems that we had been struggling with was focusing on a target market, and differentiation of our services from the other family law and divorce attorneys.
“My highly targeted websites www.MensFamilyLaw.com and www.InternationalChildCustody.com are the draught horses of my marketing program. They consistently bring me business. The sites are resources for parents who are frantic about what the future holds for them. I believe that by providing information and hope I have created a space for people to find solace.”
Narrow Down Your Niche
“We branded ourselves as Father’s Rights attorneys and launched the MensFamilyLaw.com website. Now when I introduce myself as a Father’s Rights advocate it is more memorable than when I used to say I am an attorney. By finding a narrowly-focused niche I was able to make myself more memorable to the general public who sees all attorneys as the same.”
Become a Trusted Expert and Resource
“I engage in a regular course of outreach to the traditional print publications as an expert on Men’s Issues and Father’s Rights so that I am the go-to source for their questions when they are writing stories and need a particular viewpoint.”
Build Authority and Credibility by Producing Content
“Our website consists of text-based blog entries, podcasts for the audio-inclined and short-form videos to provide both content but also allow the viewer to get to know me as a person. By seeing me present information the viewer develops a sense of whether or not they like and trust me. Video has been a huge source of new leads for us as people search YouTube for information. Our MensFamilyLaw channel reaches hundreds of men a month. 
“I’ve also written 3 books that target men and the challenges they face when going into family court: A Man’s Guide to Divorce Strategy, A Man’s Guide to Child Custody and A Man’s Guide to Domestic Violence have all been marketed to men as providing answers to their questions. “Additionally I teach CLE courses for Thomson/Reuters that are targeted to lawyers who want to specialize in men’s issues. This allows me to reach a wider audience of potential referral partners who are likely to refer a client if they need outside counsel. “The latest push into media has been our Men’s Family Law podcast which we make available to people through iTunes, Stitcher, Windows Marketplace and the Blackberry Network.”
Successes and Failures
David has found success using online marketing rather than traditional print advertising.
Transition from Print to Online
“We track where our clients come from to the best of our ability. These days the most common answer I receive from clients is that they found us on the internet and liked our MensFamilyLaw.com website, which is unlike most lawyer websites out there. 
“The traditional means of advertising are more expensive and less effective than they used to be. The Yellow Pages is effectively dead for the category of legal services so we had to switch our ad dollars to online services like Google and Bing. “The success of our online campaigns has been that we have had 13 years of straight growth while continually adapting to an ever-changing marketplace.”
Benefits and Drawbacks
The content that David produces allows him to build rapport with potential clients before they even meet. This provides him a considerable advantage over other attorneys when he is selling his services to a prospect while talking to them for the first time. Prospective clients are comfortable with him and they trust him already.
Building Comfort
“Clients come to us already knowing who we are from our website and the videos that are on the MensFamilyLaw channel on YouTube and in our blog. That sense of ease and comfort makes the development of an attorney/client relationship go quicker and smoother which is a cost savings to the client and a stress reducer for us.”
Best Marketing Advice
David advises attorneys who wish to emulate his success to create intimate relationships with their clients, and to get to work trying out different marketing strategies — no matter what they may be.
Get Going
“Jump in and get going! I didn’t find my voice for the MensFamilyLaw.com website until my 40th or 70th blog entry. Your personal style and voice will only be found by trying many different avenues but it is the best way forward.”
Focus on Building Relationships Based on Trust
“Our relationships with our MensFamilyLaw.com clients are intimate. For other lawyers whether as a corporate tax guru or a family lawyer, the clients need to feel that they can open up about every aspect of their lives, no matter how unrelated it may seem. The more open you are to your prospects and clients the easier it will be for them to open up to you and want to retain you.”
David’s 3 Steps for Getting Started
- List your ideal client as specifically as possible.
- Create your URL based on that client.
- Start producing content that is targeting that client and know that your first efforts won’t be good. It’s the first pancake rule – you throw out the first pancake but it’s the only way to get to the second one.
Attorney Info
Get in touch with David
- at his websites http://www.davidpisarra.com, MensFamilyLaw.com, and InternationalChildCustody.com
- or his blog http://mensfamilylaw.com/?cat=5.
Look at his work in the media here http://www.davidpisarra.com/5.html
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