Let's Talk Legal Marketing Featuring Tate Lounsbery Esq.

A Law Firm Marketing Blog Series: Edition #1

Welcome to our new blog series, in which we talk legal marketing with real law professionals. In our inaugural post we’ll spotlight the marketing efforts of attorney Tate Lounsbery.

We hope hearing the thoughts and ideas shared by the people in these blog posts, will inspire you to make positive changes to your marketing strategies. We also know that marketing legal services these days is more complex and challenging now than ever before, and hope that some of our readers may identify with some of the marketing struggles presented here, and perhaps be able to offer solutions.

The biggest goal of this blog series is to get the conversation going, so let’s dive in.

A Marketing Conversation With Attorney Tate Lounsbery

Tate Lounsbery practices administrative law, and has been doing so for over 12 years. He’s also been running his own solo law practice for seven years, and aside from working with a website developer, handles the majority of his law office’s marketing responsibilities himself.

Tate is a strong proponent of automated marketing practices, and discusses the value of these practices in his new Law Practice Mastermind workshop. In our below conversation with Tate, he goes in-depth on the automated strategies that have made him successful, and dishes out some advice on how attorneys can find their ideal client in 2018.

AL: What methods do you currently use to market your firm? Which have been the most effective for you?

Tate: I advertise my practice primarily by driving traffic to my website, through SEO and PPC. Both have worked very well for me.

AL: Can you go into a little more detail about your online networking process? How do you go about getting in touch with potential clients?

Tate: I use automated marketing systems, which I designed and established, that attract and follow up with my ideal prospects. I use a CRM and email marketing software that automates the relationship-building process with prospects, so that by the time they get on the phone with me, I’m not trying to “sell” them on my services. They get on the phone with me pre-sold on my services.

AL: How difficult can it be for busy attorneys like yourself to find real time to devote to marketing?

Tate: The difficulty comes when the workload is too much. Taking advantage of automated processes that facilitate communication and document-exchange with my clients lessens my workload quite a bit. Again, I do that with the CRM software I use. Having that in place has allowed me the time to craft the right marketing message, automate my marketing, and now not have to worry about when the next “new prospect phone consult” will be.

AL: What are some of the biggest marketing challenges you face today?

Tate: Creating new original marketing and advertising content, such as ebooks, videos, articles, etc.

AL: How active is your firm in creating original content (blogging, videos)?

Tate: I don’t do much of this anymore. I spent a lot of time putting all that together and have been reaping the benefits for a number of years. I should probably get back to that more.

AL: Have you found social media to be an effective marketing tool for your firm? Why or why not?

Tate: No, my ideal prospects aren’t looking for my services on social media. They do it primarily on Google. Also, because my prospects want anonymity, they steer clear of discussing these issues on social media.

AL: What marketing advice would you give to an attorney just starting out in 2018?

Tate: Most attorneys confuse “marketing” with “advertising.” Don’t make that mistake. Most attorneys think of “legal marketing” as SEO, PPC, billboards, websites, etc. All of those relate to how you distribute your message—those are all forms of advertising. Advertising is just one aspect of marketing. Chances are, you’re not ready for advertising right now.

For now, you need work on the much more difficult part of marketing: getting real clear on who you want to serve, how that person needs and deserves to be served, what services are currently available to that person, and how you can offer a better service. Once you nail that down, then you can craft a compelling marketing message. That’s when you can start your advertising campaign.

That’s it for today’s blog post, but the legal marketing discussion doesn’t have to end here. Join the Let’s Talk Legal Marketing discussion groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and start communicating with other top legal marketing minds today! Also be sure to follow the Let’s Talk Legal Marketing Twitter account (@letstalklm), for all of the latest legal marketing news and info.