The “Canned” Newsletter
Sound familiar? Think back to law school when your colleagues pulled out their “canned” briefs to study for class. Instead of buying and reading the textbooks, they bought these cliff notes at a quarter the price. Like their counterpart, many believe that “canned” newsletters should not be considered a substitute for the real thing. Sometimes they contain inaccurate information or general content that has nothing to do with your prospective clients’ interests. Nonetheless, many attorneys use “canned” newsletters to maintain a contact with prospective clients. They don’t require a lot of effort to produce (just sixteen digits and an expiration date), and, they serve the general function of reminding prospective clients of your services. This might be your best bet if you don’t have the time or resources to produce your own content.
Online Newsletter Services
There are several services that provide an arsenal of features to launch a well-organized e-newsletter marketing campaign. Standard features include mail-merge personalization so each recipient is personally addressed, message scheduling to ensure regular newsletter delivery, assured CAN-SPAM compliance so your campaign doesn’t backfire, tracking so you know how many recipients are opening your newsletter, subscription management so you don’t have to add recipient addresses when they opt-in, or manually delete if they opt-out, and templates to add style to your content. These basic features allow you operate a newsletter campaign through one integrated system. Advanced features are also available that further automate, manage, and target your campaign. Pricing for these services depend on the number of recipients and range from ten dollars to hundreds of dollars a month. Online newsletter services are a great option if you have the resources to afford, learn, and operate their comprehensive list of features. |  |
Make Your Own Newsletter with Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word offers newsletter templates so the only thing you have to do is copy and paste your content. This option allows you to send your newsletters as email attachments or in printed form. This method is best for businesses with a small marketing budget, those with a small address list, do-it-yourselfers and others with a technical understanding of MS Word features. This option does not include many of the features you’ll need to distribute the newsletters or manage the campaign, such as those provided by online newsletter services. With practice, an MS Word newsletter can be a cost-effective and rewarding marketing tool. Here are the basics.
With MS Word 2003 open, go to File, New, and click on “Templates on Office Online” under the Templates list. Once you are directed to the Microsoft Office website, type “newsletter” in the search field. Here, you can preview hundreds of newsletter templates and download those that you would like to use. Once you’ve saved the template to your computer, all you have to do is replace the default text with your own content. If all else fails, use the Help feature.
If you don’t like any of the templates, you can make your own. If you take a look at most templates, they are merely formatted textboxes. All you need to know is how to create a text box and format it. In MS Word 2003, go to the Insert tab, and click on Text Box. Click on the screen and your text box appears. Right-click on the text box and click on the Format Text Box option. Now, you can add a border, fill the box with a color, create fill effects, and stylize. Add a few more boxes and arrange them to fill the page and then you have your own template. If you need ideas, just look at templates you like and mimic them.
Tips
- Find a Niche – Your publication should focus on a specific group of readers.
- Use Plain English – Unless your readers are attorneys, they probably won’t understand legalease.
- Be Creative – Add a picture of the editor or of something related to the topic, incorporate a survey, or something else entertaining.
- Show Off – Let your readers know that you are an expert in your field and can solve their problems. Write a success story or comment on new laws in your field of law.
- Be Regular – Once you have subscribers, they will be expecting the next great read. Meeting these expectations show your business’ competency and loyalty.
- It’s Not About You – Too much self-promotion will turn off your readers. Know your audience and consider the reader’s perspective.
Management and Operations
Ed Poll's LawBiz® Management Blog “For the last 14 years, Ed Poll has been coaching and consulting lawyers and law firms in the areas of strategic planning, profitability analysis and practice development.” Now, he is sharing his time-tested advice with you.
http://www.lawbizblog.com
Increase Your Company's Size through Alliance
Many prospective clients will decline your services simply because of your company's size. Here's a solution that won't require a pill, or new hires. http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/
2007-08-10-virtual_N.htm
Start Your Own Practice
An eager, yet prudent, 2L questions the possibility of starting a law firm business right out of school. Several small-law-firm business development resources are recommended to this ambitious scholar. Take notes.
http://rjonrobins.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/07/i-would-love-to.html
How Can Start-Ups Grow?
An assistant professor in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School explains how small companies can grow by mimicking the organizational structure of established businesses. How hard can it be to copy?
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5089.html
Legal Marketing and Advertising
Name Games
Believe it or not, your firm's name is a marketing tool. Do you keep every partners name in the marquee or do you keep it short and simple? This article discusses the process of choosing a name that will stick.
http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1186736522397
Position Your Firm with Simple Value Statements
Effective marketing stresses how your company's services will benefit its clients, rather than the services' features. Learn the difference and craft powerful key messages that will attract clients.
http://www.smallbusinessbranding.com/779/positioning-with-customer-needs/
Affiliate Marketing
If your firm has a website/webpage/blog, or is planning on building one, you can utilize private label rights to expand your firm’s product-line.
http://www.anownsite.com/affordable-online-strategies/private-label-rights.shtml
Online Reputation Management
We all know that it’s impossible to please everyone. There might be a time when a client decides to bash your business’ name by posting criticism online. Of course it’s unwarranted, but others may take the opinion to heart. Here’s some advice for maintaining a good image.
http://www.lawfirmwebsolutions.com/blog/2007/08/06/
online-reputation-management-for-law-firms/
Law Firm Technology
Web 101
For you late bloomers, here's an article that discusses features of the World Wide Web that you can easily harness for your firm's benefit.
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1187341333326
Notable Mentions
Robin Hood of Legal Research Resources
It's been peddled to us for years and many of us have become addicted to it - legal research resources such as LexisNexis and WestLaw. Someone wants to feed our craving free of charge. Who's complaining?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/technology/20westlaw.html
?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
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