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This week , as I was scrolling through my

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Facebook feed , I came across

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a comment by a seasoned estate

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planning attorney who uses seminars

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to feed his practice . Now

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, you may be like this fellow , or

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you may have been down that road and got a

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little panicky over the high costs

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of printing , mailing and advertising

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to promote a successful

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live seminar . Mailing

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and advertising to promote a successful live seminar . So you know , it wasn't really the

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fact that this guy was a seminar jockey that caught my attention . It was

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his next statement , and

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I quote I have found webinars

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to be a dismal marketing strategy

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, total waste of time and money

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. If you've heard

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or read this from your colleagues , let's

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talk about why that is such a dangerous

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, though popular , myth . Welcome

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to this week's episode of the Marketing Lawcast

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, where we dive into the strategies that

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help your practice not just survive

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but thrive . I'm your

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host , jennifer Goddard , ceo of Integrity

1:03

Marketing Solutions . Today

1:05

I'm talking about a topic close to my heart

1:07

and crucial for the growth of any

1:10

estate planning or elder law firm mastering

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digital marketing . Let's

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get clear on one thing first Webinars

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are one tool in your law

1:21

firm's digital marketing toolbox . They

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are not the end-all and be-all of

1:25

digital marketing and of course they

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come in lots of different flavors . Some

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people do a live webinar every week

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, use on-demand webinars . Some

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webinars are entertaining and compelling

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and some are dry

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and boring . So

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if someone tells you that webinars are a

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dismal marketing strategy , I

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encourage you to filter that statement

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and read the subtext . What

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this fellow is really saying is my

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webinars didn't work well for me

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, so I went back to what

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I know , which is seminar marketing

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, and of course seminar

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marketing has been around for decades . My

2:07

first role as a marketer for an estate

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planning law firm was focused

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exclusively on seminar

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marketing and that was back in 1995

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. I understand

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how powerful seminar marketing can be , how

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powerful and even innovative it

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was back in 1995 . We

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just accepted the high costs of printing

2:29

, mailing and advertising

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and the high risks of investing

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in a seminar and the anxiety

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of making sure we got a decent return

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on that investment . We

2:42

just accepted the bargain shopping prospects

2:44

, the feast or famine lead flow

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, because back

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then there was no internet

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. We were pioneers

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back then , breaking away from that referral-only

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strategy that locked most small

3:00

firms out of the best

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estate planning referrals . It

3:04

was a good old boys club back then , with

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the best clients snapped up by

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long-standing players who wrote mostly

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wills and raked in riches

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from probate . Do you remember

3:16

those days ? We were

3:18

all considered mavericks for bringing

3:20

estate planning to the masses with

3:23

free live seminars

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. In fact , I

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remember being a little worried way

3:29

back then that the local

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probate lawyer would file a bar complaint

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against us . It was that

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new , it was that unthinkable

3:38

, that disruptive . But

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that was 30 years ago . Today

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the internet breaks all those barriers

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, letting us reach more people faster

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and across more distance than

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we ever could with a live event . Don't

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get me wrong . I'm not saying that

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you should never conduct a live seminar

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, but consider

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this I have a client

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in St Louis who did and

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still does live seminars

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. It's very successful prominent law

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firm . Chances are you know of

4:13

them . But a few

4:15

years ago he got curious

4:17

. He wondered if he could

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be even more profitable if

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he mastered online marketing

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. So he came to us

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and we worked with him and

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his terrific staff to

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redesign and optimize his

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website . Then we

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launched a webinar marketing campaign

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. In less than one

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year his first year with us his

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revenue grew by 62%

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. I'm going to

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pause a moment to let that number sink in

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. I'm going to pause a moment to let that number sink in . That's not

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62% growth in a small

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startup firm going from 10,000

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to 16,000 . That

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is a multiple seven-figure

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law firm adding 62%

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revenue growth in less than one year

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. That's

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without hiring more attorneys , that's not even hosting

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more live seminars

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and

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it's not investing hundreds of thousands of dollars . It came

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from redesigning and optimizing his website so it ranks well for high intent local

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searches and converts visitors

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into initial consultations

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. And it came from

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developing a single powerful

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webinar and designing a

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marketing campaign that gets people to

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watch that webinar and book

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a call afterward . Imagine

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the leverage and

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initial investment in building a system

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a little fuel every month to

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keep it running and it delivers

5:52

three to five qualified

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leads on the daily . They

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could stop doing their live

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events altogether . Overall

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revenue would probably drop but

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the margin would go up . But

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they don't have to quit doing live events

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. They have a good

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system for running them . Their

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live events deliver good leads

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and the firm is pretty well

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known for their entertaining and in

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fact both strategies work well

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together . The

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firm gains name recognition

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from their webinar marketing and

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that probably drives some registrations

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for their live events and

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if someone is curious about the live event

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they may pop in and watch the webinar

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first . You see , relying

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exclusively on referrals

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or live workshops is

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like looking at a bustling marketplace

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from the sidelines . Yes

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, these methods have their advantages Referrals

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come from trusted sources and

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workshops allow for that face-to-face

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interaction but they

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also have their limitations . Referrals

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aren't scalable and referral

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sources can be fickle , and

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workshops can be costly

7:16

and sometimes they can attract clients

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that may not fully align

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with your firm's target demographic

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. When I see

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comments like the one from that fellow who

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claimed that webinars are a dismal

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way to market , I think it's so important

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to set the record straight . Digital

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marketing isn't just about throwing a strategy

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at the wall and hoping it sticks . It's

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about a sophisticated , comprehensive

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approach to your law firm marketing

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. Take SEO

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, content creation , paid

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advertising and your online

7:50

presence , for instance . These

7:53

aren't just buzzwords , they're tools

7:55

. Tools that , if used correctly

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, can build a robust digital

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presence that attracts and

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retains clients . Attorneys

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have problems and challenges and disappointments

8:08

when these tools are used

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without a deep understanding

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or a strategic framework

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. I'm sure you can

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relate to this scenario because it happens in

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your law firm . Every time a prospect

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calls up and asks how much do you

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charge ? How much do you charge for a trust , you

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cringe right , because

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you know you need way more information

8:31

to decide whether this person even needs

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a will or a trust , and

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what the best strategy would be to achieve

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their goals , which they

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haven't even shared those with you yet

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. It's the same thing

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in digital marketing . Attorney

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calls up and asks how much we charge

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to do SEO or

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run Google ads and

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yes , there are plenty of agencies out there just

8:56

ready to take your money , promising

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the moon and delivering nothing but

9:00

a handful of dust . They do

9:02

your SEO for $499

9:05

a month or they will run your ads

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for free , just taking a percentage

9:10

of your ad spend . That's

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not how we operate at Integrity Marketing Solutions

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. When an attorney approaches

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us wanting to dive headfirst

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into any particular marketing strategy

9:22

whether it's webinars , seo

9:25

or paid advertising we

9:27

know that's just the beginning of our

9:29

conversation . We

9:31

use that question as the opening

9:34

to get to know more about

9:36

your firm's overall marketing strategy

9:38

, your budget , your staff

9:40

capabilities and

9:42

your expectations . We

9:45

won't just launch a certain strategy because that's

9:47

what you ask for . We want

9:49

any and every strategy to be fully

9:51

integrated into your broader marketing

9:54

ecosystem and in complete

9:56

alignment with your goals

9:58

, just like you wouldn't draft

10:01

a will without first assessing if it's

10:03

the right tool for your client . We

10:06

don't recommend strategies without ensuring

10:08

they fit your firm's needs . Digital

10:12

marketing is not a one-size-fits-all

10:14

solution . It's a tailored suit

10:16

designed to fit your firm

10:18

perfectly . So

10:21

let's shift the narrative . Embrace

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digital marketing as your ally in

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leveraging your time and your budget

10:29

, reaching and serving more

10:31

clients better , and

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scaling your revenue without

10:36

working yourself to death . Remember

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, the landscape of estate planning and elder law

10:40

is evolving , and so should

10:43

our approaches to reaching and helping clients

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. Thanks for tuning into

10:47

the Marketing Lawcast . I'm Jennifer Goddard

10:49

and I look forward to navigating this digital

10:52

marketing journey with you . If

10:54

you're ready to really master online

10:57

marketing and reap the benefits

10:59

for yourself and your clients , let's

11:01

talk . You can schedule a free

11:03

call on my website at

11:06

wwwimsrockscom

11:10

.