Whether you are a solo practitioner or work at a larger law firm, you know that successfully marketing your legal services involves many avenues. It’s not just about a single step or even a few, such as blogs, social media, referrals, or networking. You need to put your eggs, so to speak, into many baskets. Generally, all are of equal importance, but you don’t want to forget about boosting your credibility with workshops.
Hosting a workshop can help increase your visibility and trustworthiness as an attorney, broadening your client base. It’s also an effective way to reach out to potential clients, showing them that you are well-versed in your practice area and that you care about the issues they face. Many potential new referral sources can be in the audience of a workshop as well.
Here are some tips to boost your credibility through workshops.
Sharing Information
The priority goal of any workshop should be to share helpful information with a specific audience. Workshops are best presented in a comfortable and educational environment. You don’t want your attendees to feel overwhelmed by the topic or pressured into using your services. Depending on available space, some attorneys choose to host their workshops in their offices. Others may rent a room at a business center, hotel, recreation center, or restaurant.
Workshops are ideal if your practice area involves pro-active planning in the legal areas of:
Estate planning
Business planning
Immigration
Bankruptcy
Even if your practice doesn’t focus on one of these areas, you can still find successful workshop topics that work for you. Your workshop can provide beneficial information to potential clients who may be facing some complex issues that require some preparation. By providing this valuable service, you can establish your expertise and authority on the topic at hand. Hosting a workshop can also show that you genuinely care about people’s pressing legal matters and getting them the help they need.
Offer Virtual or Hybrid Workshops
With COVID-19 still a viable concern for many as we head further into 2022, you should highly consider that you might want to go entirely virtual with workshops or use a hybrid model to make people feel more comfortable. Even if COVID-19 becomes much less of an issue, many people still appreciate the convenience of attending a workshop online instead of in person. Providing workshops in this manner shows that you respect their time and preferred method of receiving information. You may also reach a larger potential client pool by providing a virtual option.
Prepare Your Marketing Materials
Workshops are an excellent opportunity to share your marketing materials. Make sure you are prepared with enough handouts branded with your firm name. Pay close attention to the design of your PowerPoint presentations to ensure they are done professionally and on-brand. Include clear action steps for your attendees to follow. At the end of your workshop, present a clear action step for your audience—such as scheduling a personal consultation with you. If some or all of your attendees are virtual, ensure you mail or email them your marketing materials with plenty of time to spare before the date of your workshop and confirm their receipt.
When your attendees register for the workshop or arrive at the location, be sure you collect their contact info. Follow up with every attendee personally to answer their questions. Keep in mind that some may be ready to move forward with your help, and others may want to wait. Find out when you can follow up with those in the latter group and make it a point to do so.
Workshops Showcase Your Skills
Hosting workshops also makes you a credible public speaker and showcases that you’re highly knowledgeable in your practice area. This can increase your chances of being invited to other speaking engagements, which will help market your services. When others in and around your legal field see you speak and know the depth of your knowledge in your practice area, they will be more inclined to invite you to speak at other events.
Record Your Workshop
Even after your workshop is over, its reach doesn’t have to be. It’s a good idea to have a video or audio recording of the workshop. You can then post it to your social media accounts, website, or even send it to potential clients. Some attorneys offer to send potential clients a link to watch the previously recorded workshop in exchange for their contact information. Be sure to save a copy for possible future use.
If you’ve yet to explore the benefits you could reap from hosting a workshop, 2022 is the year to start.
Meranda M. Vieyra is the owner of Denver Legal Marketing LLC. She is one of the most visible legal professionals in Colorado law with over 20 years of service in the Denver legal community. Her award-winning marketing firm has earned a strong reputation as the go-to for impactful, cost-effective legal marketing strategies. She has helped her clients secure coverage by well-known publications and has obtained local, national, and international awards on their behalf. Meranda enjoys working with solo practitioners and small law firms helping them attract recognition, promotion, and visibility to their practices. She also advises medium-sized and national law firms on business development and marketing strategy. Meranda is a lecturer and author on issues related to marketing including how lawyers can use LinkedIn effectively, how to develop a personal brand, and the promotion of legal services through community service. In 2018, she was honored to be named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Denver Business Journal and to be given the 10 Under 10 Award by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Association (top 10 alum of the decade). In 2019, Meranda was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and in the Top 100 young professionals in Colorado through the Gen XYZ Awards published by ColoradoBiz Magazine.