Tag: niche
Do you sound just like your competitors?
It’s one of the biggest marketing challenges professionals face – how to distinguish themselves from competitors. How many ways can you say that you advocate for your client’s best interests or help them minimize liability, reduce taxes, increase revenue, be more efficient, etc.? What do you do that is really so different from other lawyers, accountants, financial advisors or others in your field? (more…)
How to use evergreen content to market your expertise
Lawyers, accountants and other professionals often want to be seen as experts in their field but find it difficult to commit the time to achieve that goal. “Experts” need to consistently demonstrate their knowledge through writing and speaking. A single speaking engagement, published article or quote in the newspaper is not enough. While it is important to show you are knowledgeable about the latest developments in your field, you can also showcase your expertise with “evergreen content.” The added benefit is that it also saves time. (more…)
6 musts for promoting your personal brand
We all have a personal brand, but many of us don’t know how to utilize it effectively to achieve our business goals. Learning how to shape and promote your brand can help you be more successful in your career and business whether you work for yourself or someone else. It enables you to stand out in a world where your competitors are easy to find and it can be hard to explain to people why someone should choose to work with you. (more…)
Top tips on building a strong personal brand
Like it or not, you have a personal brand. Your brand is about your reputation – what you are known for and what people expect from you personally and professionally. The problem is that your brand may not be helping you because it isn’t distinctive, or you aren’t promoting it effectively. Below are a few tips I shared with the Nassau County Bar Association last month. (more…)
Can you explain why someone should hire you?
Let’s face it. It’s hard to stand out anymore. Your prospects can easily search online to find all your competitors and superficially compare you to them. It’s just as difficult to differentiate yourself with referral sources. We all know lots of people and can forget what someone does, or we know several individuals who do the same thing. Why should someone pick you to call or refer? (more…)
Biggest marketing takeaways for small firms
How can small firms improve their marketing? Earlier this month, I joined a panel discussion on marketing at the Long Island Tax Professionals Symposium sharing tips on how small firms can successfully market their practice. Regardless of what kind of professional service firm you have, the same rules apply – firms must clearly differentiate themselves, be consistent in their marketing and focus on building relationships. (more…)
7 tips for effectively marketing your niche
Developing a niche is a great way to attract clients and build a distinctive brand for your firm. It differentiates you and your marketing will be more successful and effective because you are focused on your unique expertise and who you want to attract. (more…)
Top 10 Marketing Tips for 2017
Successful marketing is tough. There isn’t a magic bullet, but there are tactics that can help you succeed. We’ve created a list of some of our favorite tips to take you into the new year (more…)
8 marketing musts for your firm
Everyone wants tips to help market themselves. We’re all hoping to hear the one thing that we can do to magically bring in business. Unfortunately there is no one thing, but there are lots of little things that can help. I work a lot with lawyers and was recently on a radio show to talk about Marketing Tips for Attorneys. To prepare, the host, Ken Landau, asked me to come in with 30 tips. I’m not sure how many we actually got to, but here’s a sampling to get you started whether you are a lawyer or other kind of professional:
1. Have a strong LinkedIn profile. When someone googles your name, your LinkedIn bio is usually one of the top results. What do you want people to see there? It’s your opportunity to impress them and stand out from the competition. Don’t waste it. And don’t rely on people going to your website to read your bio there. Some may only look at your LinkedIn profile.
2. Share content regularly on social media– both your content and other people’s. Social media is like networking. You have to be out there consistently, get involved, follow up with people you meet and stay in touch. Every time you share something on social media your network will see it. Post your own stuff, but also like and comment on other people’s posts, ask questions, and start a discussion. It will build your credibility and a lot of people will reciprocate, which will expand your reach to everyone in their network. And remember to join and share posts within groups. That gets you in front of members of the group even if they aren’t part of your direct network.
3. Focus on a niche. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Focus on a specific area, type of client, business model, etc. It’s better to focus limited marketing resources on a niche area rather than spreading them all over multiple areas. Ultimately it will bring you better leads and more money. (Check out Inc.’s, How to Narrow your Target Market for more tips.)
4. Position yourself as an expert. This goes along with focusing on a niche. Identify a topic, issue, specialty, etc. where you have experience and you can speak with authority. Get known for that by speaking and writing about that area consistently. Make sure your marketing message highlights that expertise. Again focusing on a narrow area brings better results than saying that you can help anyone with any problem.
5. Blog regularly. In determining how to rank a website, search engines look for sites with high-quality relevant information. They also look for websites that are updated frequently and have lots of pages. Blogging helps with all of these. It boosts a firm’s organic search results when prospects are searching online. And it also makes firms more credible (because they have lots of great content) for prospects who are now on the website and evaluating their services.
6. Involve employees. A recurring problem professionals have is coming up with good topics to write and speak about. Employees can help you create content that is interesting to your readers since they are often dealing with day to day issues with your clients. You want your blog posts, newsletters, presentations, etc. to address the real questions that your prospects have about their problems. Employees can also help promote your content by sharing it via their own social media channels.
7. Seek out relationships with other experts, organizations, and media. Get to know others who speak to the same market you are targeting and are well-known. They can help you build your own credibility and spread your message. But remember you have to help them first.
8. Have a marketing plan. Random acts of marketing are not effective. Create a written plan outlining who you want to specifically target with your marketing and how you’re going to do it. Then make sure you allocate resources (time and money) to getting it done.
For more tips, listen to the radio program.
