3 Things Women Attorneys Need to Know about Content Marketing 

When I opened the doors of my own business catering to the seriously driven woman entrepreneur, I wasn’t shocked by how many attorneys applied for membership.  They were, of course, one of the industries I didn’t see represented at most “women in business events.”  I was, however, immediately impressed by how savvy attorneys are regarding content marketing.This isn’t surprising as attorneys are excellent with their words.  No doubt many were told by their parents, “You should be an attorney,” as they were growing up, as a back-handed compliment for their ability to win arguments.  Still, too many attorneys are missing out entirely — or not reaping the full financial rewards —  of this critical client-generating technique.   Here’s what female attorneys need to know to rock their content marketing in 2019:

1. Content Marketing Does Not Require Writing

Many attorneys feel stuck because the last thing they want to do is add more writing to their plate, but content marketing can take many forms.  Johnine Clark, a family law attorney in  Greenbelt, MD represents only men in custody and divorce cases.  While she does blog consistently, her most profitable content marketing effort is the live seminars she hosts regularly, called “Men and The Business of Divorce.”    Autumn Witt Boyd, a commercial attorney in Tennessee relies primarily on her podcast, “Legal Road Map,” to bring in ideal clients.As with every industry, you want your content marketing efforts to be based around what you enjoy doing, whether that’s delivering live training on an ongoing basis, hosting a podcast, writing a book, doing Facebook LIVE videos, consistently blogging, or any combination of these.  The best content marketing plan for you is the one you’ll do most consistently, so choose something you’ll look forward to doing.

2. Content Plays a Very Important Role in Your Marketing: Positioning

Positioning, or how you are viewed within your industry, is one of the top pieces of the sales funnel that people from all industries tend to skip over.  Content marketing — when done well — positions you as the top attorney for a specific client in a specific market.John O’Connor, an attorney and entrepreneur in Austin Texas agrees, “Content is still king. Great content helps position law firms as thought leaders.  Demonstrating expertise by addressing the concerns of your client base with content builds trust and reinforces the hiring decision.”  In fact, there’s nothing more effective at building trust and confidence in your prospective or new client.Some new prospects will find your content marketing while searching for an attorney and be compelled to contact you.  This is great!  But most new prospects — including referrals — will find out about you “somehow” and then go to your site to check you out.   You want to be able to present a robust sampling of your expertise and experience.  The content they find online should  reaffirm that YOU are the woman for the job.

3. Content Marketing  Makes Referrals Easy

Many attorneys I work with do some form of local networking… particularly with other professionals who serve as referral sources to their practice.  However, without content marketing, the referrer has to work harder to convince their contacts to reach out to you.Robert Androsiglio, a Long Island personal injury attorney,  has created a site that demonstrates his knowledge, expertise and proven record with personal injury cases.  However, he still provides referral sources with well-written, professionally designed white papers that they can hand to potential clients. These white papers are designed to answer the client’s questions, give them immediate steps they can take, and also convince them that making an appointment is their next logical “best step” to take.Which would you rather rely on?   A referral source who can hand a prospect your business card?  Or a referral source who can hand a prospect your book, white paper, or a CD of your podcast episodes?xThe latter is infinitely more effective in getting that prospect to set up an appointment. When done consistently and passionately, content marketing can make the difference between having a law firm that struggles to get their next client and a law firm booked solid with their ideal clients.