PILMMA ADVISORInvaluable Wisdom To Grow Your Practice

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Ken's Corner .......................... 1

Management Mindset ............ 2

Marketing Maneuver .............. 2

Is Your Website Mobile Responsive? ........................... 3

PILMMA Calendar .................. 4

Invaluable Wisdom To Grow Your Practice

www.pilmma.org • August 2014

607 Briarwood Drive, Suite 4Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

1-800-497-1890

KEN'S CORNER

Hello All!

This summer is really passing by fast. My father was right, the older you get the faster time passes you by. We just got back from the PILMMA Summit in Chicago and I can honestly say this was the best one yet. Our speakers were top-notch and truly experts within their respective fi elds. The information they shared was outstanding, educational and potentially life-changing. We are already planning next year’s Summit, which will be in Dallas-Fort Worth, July 16th-18th. Be sure to mark your calendars now so you don’t miss out!A lawyer asked me why I share so many of my successful marketing tactics with lawyers across the country. He was astounded at some of the secrets I shared with the attendees. There are two good reasons:

1. I love helping lawyers grow their practices.2. 95% of the lawyers I share my secrets with never implement anything.

If you are included in the 5 percent, congratulations! You have a successful practice and you will continue to grow your law fi rm. Nothing happens until you take action! You don’t have to be the smartest or the best trial lawyer to have a successful practice. I actually shared the 5 keys to building a prosperous law practice and I am going to briefl y list them.

1. Set Goals2. Create a Plan3. Create Systems4. Hire and Keep Super Stars5. Join a Mastermind Group

I don’t have the space here to restate what took me over an hour and a half to explain at the PILMMA Summit last week. I will tell you that there are two books that are a must if you really want a successful fi rm. “Think and Grow Rich” By Napoleon Hill and “The E Myth” By Michael Gerber. Do yourself a favor and read these two books at least 3 times each. These two books changed my life. They can do the same for you!Before I sign off I wanted to give you two updates in my personal life. First, I have lost 102 lbs and I’m still working out. Second, I have done this in spite of all the parties I have attended this summer for my daughter Beth’s upcoming wedding. Here's a picture of Beth and I at one of those parties. Next month this time I will have lost a daughter and gained a son-in-law, as the wedding is September 6th!

Until the next time...

Dedicated to your success,

Ken

PILMMA ADVISORInvaluable Wisdom To Grow Your Practice

MANAGEMENT MINDSETWHY TESTING NEW JOB APPLICANTS IS ESSENTIAL

Marilyn Beasley, my offi ce manager is retiring next month. I hired Marilyn, December 23, 1982. She will be sorely missed by all, especially me.

As a result of her leaving we are in the process of hiring a new SSD paralegal. Twenty fi ve years ago I would have just run an ad in the local paper, done some interviews and hired someone based on how well they did on their interview and my gut instinct. NOT ANYMORE!

Over the years I have learned two things the hard way:1. Anyone can do a good interview and 2. My gut instinct is 50/50 at best when it comes to choosing new employees.

Testing is essential in today’s world with the Internet and YouTube. The Internet is loaded with information about how to do a great interview, however we usually place no more than 25% weight on the interview and 75% on how well they test. We give a typing test, grammar test and a core value's test from Jay Henderson at Real Talent Hiring.

Jay’s test is the heat! It tells you whether a person can follow instructions, whether they are individualists or team players, and whether they are manipulative, or insensitive to other’s feelings. The test tells you much more, but it would fi ll up the entire newsletter. The key is you must test. I have had people tell me they could type 60 wpm when in fact it was 35 wpm. People lie, tests don’t.

This is why it is essential to test a prospective new hire and not just rely on the interview and references. Trust me, the time and money you invest in testing will pay for itself in the long run.

MARKETING MANEUVERGETTING NOTICED ONLINE

You may have developed the best website in the world, but if no one sees it, what good does it do you?

Understanding how to get your site noticed is a necessity if you want your site to work for you and convert visitors into new clients. Google changes it algorithm like my wife changes pocketbooks. The point I am making is that in order to be successful online, you must keep up with the ever-changing search engine requirements. One way to do this is to hire a reputable SEO consultant. But that alone is not enough.

You must educate yourself about it as well. This is truly the only way you are going to be able to hold your SEO provider accountable. You must learn enough SEO basics so you don’t get hoodwinked by some slick talking snake oil salesperson.

Second, you have to differentiate your site and offer information people want to know. In other words, what’s keeping your ideal prospect up at night? What is it that they are worried about? Here’s a tip to fi nd out. Get all your staff and lawyers to write down every question a new prospective client asks them for 2 to 4 weeks. Then pick the top 10 most frequently asked questions and create content that answers these questions. As I have often said, you have to get inside the mind of your prospect. What are their fears? What keeps them up at night? What’s on their mind constantly? When preparing the content, follow these simple rules:

1. Write in simple plain English at a 5th to 7th grade level.2. Make it conversational and leave out the legalese. 3. Be interesting, be informative.4. Give good solid information. The more you give the more

trust you create.5. Offer free reports on certain subject matters when

possible.6. Make it easy to read and not cluttered.7. Don’t use the words our, we, us, and I but rather you and

yours as much as possible.8. Use info graphics when possible to make it easier to

understand and more interesting.9. Always have a strong call to action to get your viewers

to take action; whether it be call, opt in for a report, chat online, or fi ll out a form. Get your viewers interested!

10. Use a mix of video, but transcribe it and also put it on your site to get the SEO juice.

The key is to have them take some kind of action before they leave your site. Remember, getting them to your website is only half the battle; you also need to convert them into paying clients.

To learn many more secrets to online success, join us next month in Dallas-Fort Worth at our 2nd Annual Internet Domination Boot Camp for Lawyers. Go to www.lawyerinternetdominationbootcamp.com to learn more!

PILMMA ADVISOR

IS YOUR WEBSITE MOBILE RESPONSIVE? A “Responsive Website” is the new catch phrase used by website developers and marketers. In layman’s terms, what it means is that your website will conform to a smartphone siren. This will enable those who visit your site from their smartphone to easily read and navigate your website. Why is this important?

1. 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action. More than half of those searches lead to sales. (Source: SearchEngineLand) Stunning.

2. 91 percent of adults have their smartphones within arm’s reach. And that was as of 2007. I would wager the sum is closer to 100 percent now. (Source: Morgan Stanley)

3. 34 percent of Americans use ONLY their mobile devices to access the Internet. My 30 year old son is one of them. (Source: Pew Research)

4. There are 271 million mobile subscribers in the U.S. alone. 82 percent of U.S. adults own a cellphone. (Source: Pew Reports 2010)

5. Search engine links are 8 times more effective than print advertising with more than half resulting in sales. (Source: SearchEngineLand, ad Age)

6. 95 percent of smartphone owners have used the phone to look up information with 59 percent visiting a listed site and 61 percent making a call.

7. 70 percent of mobile searches lead to action within one hour, (It takes a full month for the same percentage of desktop users to follow up, but most searches still result in sales.) (Source: MobileMarketer.com)

8. Here’s a golden gem: Mobile ads perform 4-5x better than online ads for key metrics such as brand favorability, awareness and purchase intent. (Source: Neilson Study, 2012)

9. Not surprisingly, the majority of 25-34 year olds and 19-24 year olds (64 percent and 53 percent, respectively) now own smartphones.

10. A May 2013 Constant Contact survey reported that a whopping 73 percent of marketers now use mobile.

11. Your page position counts. Google Plus is the highest social media factor when ranking your site for page position. The top three listings take more than 40 percent of the click-throughs.

12. In June, 2011, U.S. wireless subscribers outnumbered the entire U.S. population with their multiple subscriptions for phones, tablets, and desktops.

These facts should infl uence your marketing decisions in 2014. As for my own focus, I’ll be paying much more attention to online mobile marketing strategies in the coming year.

Most important is that Google has announced it will penalize your site as far as rankings if it is not responsive. This alone is a good enough reason to make sure your site is smartphone friendly. There are so many different tactics you can implement to get cheap leads using a mobile platform!

Sep. 19-21, 2014 • Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX

INTERNET DOMINATIONBOOT CAMP Easy Registration!

Visit our website atwww.lawyerinternetdominationbootcamp.com

Or call 800-497-1890

What to Expect from the Country’s Top Experts:

• Advanced SEO Strategies• The Ethics of Being Online• Becoming a Social Media Rocket Scientist in One

Easy Lesson• What Content to Put on Your Website and Blog• How to Leverage YouTube and Videos to Enhance

Your Online Marketing• Creating an Online Strategic Plan• And much, much more!

At the North-Fossil Creek Radisson Hotel

MISSION STATEMENTPILMMA is the fi rst and only legal marketing and management association dedicated to Personal Injury and Disability attorneys. Our goal is to provide our members with the necessary tools, information and education to grow and manage a successful contingency based Injury and/or Disability law practice. We are committed to fulfi lling the marketing and management needs of our members through access to our extensive sources of credible, cutting-edge information and educational events.

THANK YOU...I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the attendees of this year’s Super Summit in Chicago. I enjoyed seeing everyone – both the familiar and new faces in the crowd. It is your desire for continual knowledge and education that gives me the drive to do what I do. It is my goal to provide you with the best speakers and experts on legal marketing and management. I also hope to introduce you to the fi nest exhibitors I know – the folks who are there to help you implement what you learn at our Summits. So I hope each of you took the information you learned and chose three new ideas to employ once you returned to your offi ce. You are given a lot of information in these three days and it can be overwhelming, which is why I want you to start small and build from there. And if you get stuck, we are only a phone call away! And we love success stories, so if you tried something new that worked for you, let us know about it. Email me personally at ken@pilmma.org

*Diamond, Platinum, and Titanium membership levels only**Gold, Diamond, Platinum, and Titanium membership levels

only***Respective Members Only

PILMMA CALENDAR -August5th: Lawyer App Mastermind*** call w/ Patrick Anderson12 NOON EST13th: – Internet Domination Webinar w/Jebez LeBret1:00 PM EST19th: Lawyer App Mastermind ***call w/ Patrick Anderson12 NOON EST19th: Teleseminar with Greg Martini**4:00 PM EST20th: Internet Domination Webinar w/ Joel Comm1:00 PM EST20th: Attorney Only Call w/ Chris Mullins**3:00 – 4:00 p EST21st: GM Webinar w/Augie Ribeiro & Leah Walsh4:00 PM EST26th - Q&A w/Ken Hardison4:00–5:00 PM EST 27th: Internet Domination Webinar w/ Richard James1:00 PM EST27th: Staff Only Call with Chris Mullins*3:00–4:00 PM EST27th: Success Call w/ Chris Mullins*4:00–5:00 PM EST

607 Briarwood DriveSuite 4Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

20 Proven Strategies 20 Proven Strategies 20 Proven Strategies 20 Proven Strategies 20 Proven Strategies To Grow Your PracticeTo Grow Your PracticeTo Grow Your PracticeTo Grow Your PracticeTo Grow Your Practice

1-800-497-1890Or visit our website at:www.SSDprofi tbooster.com

26th - Q&A w/Ken Hardison4:00–5:00 PM EST

• Cut your overhead by 30%.

• Reduce your acquisition costs to $300 per case.

• Choose the most profi table cases.

• Collect 95% of your advanced costs.

• And much more!

This Seminar Takes Place 24-Hours Before the NOSS-CR Convention!

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