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Grow Your Law Firm

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GROW YOUR LAW FIRM

THE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO GENERATE THE


BEST CASES AND STAND APART FROM YOUR
COMPETITORS!

COOPER SAUNDERS
© Copyright 2022 - All rights reserved.

The content contained within this book may not be reproduced,


duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the
author or the publisher.

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held


against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or
monetary loss due to the information contained within this book, either
directly or indirectly.

Legal Notice:

This book is copyright protected. It is only for personal use. You cannot
amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content
within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer Notice:

Please note the information contained within this document is for


educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been
executed to present accurate, up to date, reliable, complete information.
No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge
that the author is not engaged in the rendering of legal, financial, medical
or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived
from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before
attempting any techniques outlined in this book.

By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances


is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are
incurred as a result of the use of the information contained within this
document, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or
inaccuracies.
CONTENTS

Foreword By Miller Leonard P.C ix


Introduction xi

1. The Focus Marketing Method 1


2. Find Core Service 17
3. Foundations & Expert Status 29
4. Organic Rankings 45
5. Search Engine Marketing 61
6. Social Media Marketing 81
7. The Marketing Plan Recap 97
Bonus: Chapter One Of Marketing Secrets
Of The Ultra-Wealthy! 107

About the Author 121


FOREWORD BY MILLER LEONARD P.C

Starting a law firm – a time of excitement, confusion, fear,


possibility, and hope. Those of us who have stepped off
that cliff and opened our own firm understand those
emotions.
For many, if you are like me, this is the first venture
into the world of business. Prior to opening my own firm, I
hadn’t paid much attention to the business of law. I should
have.
Many years down the road, I happened to have the
good fortune of meeting Cooper Saunders. And after a
while of knowing and working with Cooper, I wished that
I had met him when I first opened my law firm.
Cooper brings an honesty and positive attitude to
business. And that is both refreshing and fun.
Cooper is a marketing genius. He understands the
digital space and the needs of a law firm. And he does this
without destroying your budget.
Today, it is impossible to open a law firm without a
ix
Foreword By Miller Leonard P.C

digital presence. You need both a website and a digital


marketing plan. Both are necessary. But how do you know
you’re hiring the right person?
First, work with someone who wants you to succeed.
This seems obvious but so many of the people who want
to market your firm, really don’t care if you succeed.
Cooper cares. He wants you to succeed. He wants you and
your firm to be a profit center. He doesn’t want to break
your budget.
But perhaps the biggest skill Cooper brings to you is
his focus. Marketing requires focus. The shotgun
approach doesn’t work. And Cooper has mastered the
focused approach to marketing.
As you start your law firm, partnering person is
crucial. After 25 years of practice, I am convinced that we
are done a huge disservice in law school by not being
taught principles of business. Luckily, people like Cooper
can give you the education you missed.
Today, Cooper has written a book to let you into his
world. It’s a goldmine.

x
INTRODUCTION

Lawyers read enough.

My main goal for this book is to cut out all of the fluff and
bring you the information you need to grow your law
firm.

Let’s move on to the good stuff.

xi
1

THE FOCUS MARKETING METHOD


C ooper. No offense, but I have tried to grow my law
firm with marketing, but I never see results. So,
with all due respect, how are you different from every
other marketing guru?”
This is a common question I run into when I meet
with lawyers for the first time. Most of them have tried to
grow their law firm, invested a bunch of money, and saw
nothing in return. And I’m sure you are secretly asking
yourself this same question. But why do so many
marketing campaigns fail? The answer to this question is
the same, regardless of business type or industry.

WHY MARKETING FAILS

When marketing plans fail, nine times out of ten, it is


for one reason: your marketing plan didn’t have enough
focus. For your marketing plan to work, you must choose
a niche. On top of that, you need to focus on the
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COOPER SAUNDERS

marketing avenues that will bring cases to your law firm.


In this book, I will walk you through step by step how to
do just that.

RICHES ARE IN THE NICHES!

What is a niche? A niche is a subcategory of the law


you are practicing. For example, let’s say you are a
personal injury lawyer; an example of a niche would be
motorcycle accidents or trucking accidents. Having a
complete focus on one of these niches would allow you to
create an effective marketing strategy that would produce
results.
But I know what you are already thinking, why
would I not market to every service we offer?
Here’s why:

1. Unless you have a marketing budget the size of


Coca-Cola, you will run out of money before
generating any results.
2. Your marketing message will become diluted
and weak.
3. Your relevance will suffer. You want people to
see your law firm and advertisements and say,
“Hey, that’s for me!”

A 100-watt light bulb and a 100-watt laser have the


same energy, but their uses and effects are dramatically
different. The light bulb can brighten a room in a home,
while the laser can cut through steel. The key difference is
how the energy is focused. The same is true for your
2
The Focus Marketing Method

marketing efforts: the focus of your efforts can greatly


impact the results you achieve.

THE ORIGIN OF THE FOCUS MARKETING METHOD

You are not alone if you own a law firm and feel over-
whelmed by all the marketing avenues and techniques.
These days, business owners have information overload.
They can't help but get frustrated and throw their hands
up and say, "Screw it! I give up!"
Look at how many forms and variations of marketing
business owners need to keep up with:

Business Website
Search Engine Optimization
Facebook (Posting, Page Creation, Ads)
Google Banner Ads
Pay-Per-Click Ads
Instagram
Twitter
Blogs
Snap Chat
Podcasts
YouTube
Local SEO
Tik-Tok
Google Business Profile
Reputation Management
Email Marketing
Pinterest
Webinars
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COOPER SAUNDERS

And much, much more, with new forms being added


daily!

Quick Tip: Every single form of marketing is not impor-


tant for your law firm.

The design above is a striking visual of the ground-


work from which the Focus Marketing Method origi-
nated. Greg McKeown created this graphic in his book
Essentialism. In his book, he explains the meaning
behind the visual:
"The difference between the way of the essentialist and the
4
The Focus Marketing Method

way of the non-essentialist can be seen in the figure above. In


both images, the same amount of effort is exerted. In the image
on the left, the energy is divided into many different activities
—the result of progress in a million directions. In the image on
the right, the energy is given to fewer activities. The result is
that by investing in fewer things, we have the satisfying experi-
ence of making significant progress in the things that matter
most. The way of the essentialist rejects the idea that we can fit
it all in. Instead, it requires us to grapple with real trade-offs
and make tough decisions.
In many cases, we can learn to make one-time decisions
that make one thousand future decisions, so we don't exhaust
ourselves by asking the same question again and again—the
way of the essentialist means living by design, not by default.
Instead of making choices reactively, the essentialist deliber-
ately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, elimi-
nates the non-essentials, and removes obstacles, so the essential
things have a clear, smooth passage. In other words, essen-
tialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining
where our highest contribution lies and making execution of
those things almost effortless."
When creating a visual for the Focus Marketing
Method, I knew that Greg McKeown's outline would be a
great starting point.
The Focus Marketing Method is a disciplined, system-
atic method that identifies where you should allocate your
marketing assets to see a real return on your efforts. For
the past seven years, I have been helping law firms
increase the effectiveness of their marketing plans, and
now it is your turn to reap the massive benefits of the
Focus Marketing Method.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

THE FOCUS MARKETING METHOD VISUAL

The first step I took was to create a visual that would


depict the core essence of the Focus Marketing Method.
As a visual learner, I always create compelling visuals to
drive the meaning home.
"How do we transform the Focus Method into a visual
that our clients will understand?" I asked this question to
my team on a bitter October morning. I pulled out the
image Greg McKeown created and said, "This is the foun-
dation of what I want the visual to look like. How can we
depict the essence of our marketing method in one simple
visual like this?"
Andrew Saunders, one of my team members (and my
older brother), who is always brilliant at asking questions
that get the team thinking, asked, "What happens to
companies when they are throwing their assets every-
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The Focus Marketing Method

where, and their energy is divided? What does that look


like?"
After a moment of silence, one of our backend team
members said, "Well, they are average. Consumers look at
them as average, and they are unable to build a loyal
customer base. These companies are commodities, and no
matter how great a job we do, no one seeks out a commod-
ity. They will always remain in this terrible place if they
are unclear about what to focus on."
"Okay, I like what we are getting at." I grabbed what I
thought was the dry-erase marker but was really a Sharpie
and added two circles to the illustration. I asked the team,
"We need these business owners to see where they will
remain if they don't make a change. What should the area
inside the circle be called?"
There was a momentary silence, and then answers
started rolling in, such as:

Sad Land
Mediocre Territory
Normal Zone
Common Place
The Region Of Despair
Commodity Island
Purgatory

Then I finally heard from the back of the room, "How


about the 'Land Of Average’?”
"Yes!" I loved it! I grabbed the marker and wrote inside
the first circle, "Land Of Average." I then wrote "Land Of
Success" at the end of the arrow.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

I asked the group, "Who has heard of the Pareto Prin-


ciple?" I continued, "The Pareto Principle states that for
many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from
20% of the causes."
"When we translate this to business, the top 20% of
companies make 80% of the profit available in the indus-
try. The companies that claim this massive market share
are the ones in the 'Land Of Success’.”
With the visual behind me, I told my team that our
mission is to take law firms from the "Land Of Average"
and guide them to the "Land Of Success" by any means
necessary! The Focus Marketing Method will show
you how.
Before jumping into the technicalities of the Focus
Marketing Method, we must understand how so many
companies and people unknowingly get stuck in the
"Land Of Average”.

JACK OF ALL TRADES PHENOMENON

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used


in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills rather
than gaining expertise by focusing on one.
This phenomenon is the single most deadly attribute
for a business trying to achieve any form of success. These
are the types of businesses that know a little bit about a lot
of things. Their knowledge is broad but extremely shal-
low. They can do anything, just not at an expert level.
The "Jack" is typical in today's world though. In Amer-
ica, our education system is transforming bright and
unique individuals into the "Jacks Of All Trades." It seems
8
The Focus Marketing Method

like they teach you everything except what you need to


know to succeed in life.
On top of that, humans have commitment issues. We
want to keep our options open just in case something
changes. So we are constantly looking over our shoulder
for something better. The grass is not greener on the other
side; if it is, the only reason is that someone is committed
to taking care of it. They tend to it, focus on it, and don't
let anything else interfere with their beautiful patch of
grass.
Many people go through high school and even college
without choosing what they want to do with the rest of
their lives. Many young adults major in something as
broad as "business," thinking they will have plenty of
options when choosing a career since it is broad enough.
With a massive heap of student debt, they are perplexed
when they have difficulty finding a satisfying career once
they graduate.
But the reason behind this is simple; no customer or
employer wants to pay the big bucks to a "Jack." So
instead, they reserve big money for someone that really
knows what they are doing and has spent massive
amounts of time learning and perfecting their craft.
When you keep your options open, it truly means you don't
have any.
As an attorney, your focus was not as broad as
described above. At some point during the course of your
life, you made the decision to narrow your focus and
pursue your law degree and license to practice law. Some,
if not many, of you have chosen to practice within a
certain area of the law. However, for successful marketing
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COOPER SAUNDERS

of your practice, your focus must be narrowed. In order to


grow your practice and bring in new clients you’re going
to need a marketing strategy that sets you apart from your
competition. Your marketing strategy must be geared
towards presenting yourself as the expert attorney for
particular legal situations. When potential clients need a
lawyer to help them with a particular type of problem,
they will find you and see that you are the one to call. And
they will be right!
This book will show you the correct way to transform
from a legal industry "Jack" into a law practice that can
dominate its competition and achieve greatness.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL?

While everyone has a different viewpoint on what


“Success” means, I will focus on success as it pertains to
marketing and growing a business. Success is the ability to
grow your firm and achieve financial prosperity.
The key to success is to identify and focus all of your
assets on the single most crucial aspect that will generate
the most outstanding returns for your efforts—knowing a
lot about one thing instead of knowing a little about a lot
of things—transforming yourself and your firm from a
"Jack" into a firm with Focus!
So how do you make this transformation? First, you
must have an abundant amount of specialized knowledge
and concentration.
You are committing 100% to the handful of actions
that will give your company paramount results. This book
will show you where the handful of actions is. Of course,
10
The Focus Marketing Method

the generalist very solemnly gets ahead, which is just the


way of life.
When I speak to friends and family about the educa-
tion system turning people into the "Jacks," they assume I
despise education. This is a massive misunderstanding.
Some of the most successful people in the world dropped
out of college. Is it because they hate learning? On the
contrary.
They love education and have dedicated themselves to
lifelong learning. Here is the catalyst, though, they
committed themselves to learning about what matters to
get ahead in their profession. They understood that every
second they wasted in the classroom filling their minds
with general and irrelevant information was another
minute wasted in their quest to reach their ultimate goal.
They opted out of the route of knowing a lot about a
little. They realized that every second they were sitting in
class was wasted in fulfilling their dreams and desires. In
one of the most popular books ever written about
achieving success, Napoleon Hill wrote about an
exchange with Henry Ford that outlines specialized
knowledge in his book Think and Grow Rich:
"Many people make the mistake of assuming that, because
Henry Ford had but little 'schooling,' he is not a man of 'educa-
tion.' Those who make this mistake do not know Henry Ford,
nor do they understand the real meaning of the word "educate."
That word is derived from the Latin word 'educo,' meaning to
educe, to draw out, to DEVELOP FROM WITHIN.
During the world war, a Chicago newspaper published
certain editorials in which, among other statements, Henry
Ford was called "an ignorant pacifist." Mr. Ford objected to the
11
COOPER SAUNDERS

statements and brought suit against the paper for libeling him.
When the suit was tried in the Courts, the attorneys for the
paper pleaded justification, and placed Mr. Ford, himself, on the
witness stand, for the purpose of proving to the jury that he
was ignorant. The attorneys asked Mr. Ford a great variety of
questions, all of them intended to prove, by his own evidence,
that, while he might possess considerable specialized knowledge
pertaining to the manufacturing of automobiles, he was, in the
main, ignorant.
Mr. Ford was plied with such questions as the following:
'Who was Benedict Arnold?' and 'How many soldiers did
the British send over to America to put down the Rebellion of
1776?' In answer to the last question, Mr. Ford replied, 'I do not
know the exact number of soldiers the British sent over, but I
have heard that it was a considerably larger number than ever
went back.'
Finally, Mr. Ford became tired of this line of questioning,
and in reply to a particularly offensive question, he leaned over,
pointed his finger at the lawyer who had asked the question,
and said, 'If I should really WANT to answer the foolish ques-
tion you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have
been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric
push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I
can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I
desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting
most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should
clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of
being able to answer questions, when I have men around me
who can supply any knowledge I require?' There certainly was
good logic to that reply."
Henry Ford understood that it was not imperative to
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The Focus Marketing Method

know a lot about a little. His main priority was to have a


vast amount of knowledge about the automobile industry.
He was focused on his sole goal of making the automobile
available to every single family who wanted one. Simple
as that!
You may be wondering why I’ve dedicated the last few
paragraphs to making the point that many successful
business people don’t get there through schooling.
Lawyers can’t practice without following the requisite
educatory path. All but a few states in the U.S. require
attorneys to obtain a law degree in order to take the bar
exam and obtain their law license, so what’s the point of
this rant? My point is this: find your specialty within your
field and aim your marketing strategy toward that
specialty. The more specific the better, especially in fields
and/or areas with a lot of competition. Be the lawyer (or
firm) to call for ______________________ . Maybe your
answer is ‘criminal defense’. Or how about ‘DWI
defense’? Even Better! You fill in the blank, but if you fill it
in with ‘a legal matter’, then you’re frankly wasting your
time and money.

IS COMPETITION A GOOD THING?

Competition is never a good thing when operating a


business, especially a law firm. When I bring on a new
client, I let them know we are done competing. Instead,
we are going to dominate the competition. Peter Theil
explains in his book, Zero To One:
"In the real world outside economic theory, every business
is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others
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COOPER SAUNDERS

cannot. Monopoly is, therefore, not a pathology or an exception.


Monopoly is the condition of every successful business.
All failed companies are the same: they were unable to
escape competition.
Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful
differentiation, in a struggle for survival. So why do so many
people believe that competition is healthy? The answer is that
competition is not just an economic concept or a simple inconve-
nience that individuals and companies must deal with in the
marketplace. More than anything else, competition is an
ideology -the ideology- that pervades our society and distorts
our thinking. We preach competition, internalize its necessity,
and enact its commandments, and as a result, we trap ourselves
within it even though the more we compete, the less we gain."
The simple fact is that when you are competing, you
are losing. Therefore, you must find some way to differen-
tiate yourself from your competitors. The method by
which you market your company can be one of the most
effective ways to stand alone from your competition. The
Focus Marketing Method will enable you to choose what
market you want to dominate and stand alone from your
competitors.
Another downfall of having competitors is that you
lose focus on your business's most essential aspect, satis-
fying your customers. Competition can drive you to do
crazy things and force you to miss opportunities that
could forever transform your business.
Step back and ask yourself, how are you different from
your competition? How do you stand out?
In this book, I will give you the tool that will allow you
to stand apart from your competitors. The best part is you
14
The Focus Marketing Method

don’t have to change your internal processes or systems.


I’m not going to tell you to overhaul the structure of your
law practice. My goal here is to help you learn how to
market your business effectively, grow your practice, and
achieve success. First, let’s look at the five main compo-
nents of the Focus Marketing Method!

The Five Main Components Of The Focus Marketing


Method:

1. Find Core Service – This is the service we will


allocate our marketing resources to. We will
analyze the market demand to ensure it will be
worth dominating.
2. Branding & Expert Status – Once you choose
your Core Service, we will create the branding
for your law firm and outline how you will be
seen as an expert for this service.
3. Organic Rankings – This step will cover how to
rank your law firm #1 organically on Google
Maps.
4. Search Engine Marketing – This chapter will
cover how to set up a Google PPC campaign to
generate results.
5. Targeted Ads & Golden Egg – How to generate
leads from social media marketing correctly.
We will also cover how to follow up with leads
to convert them to paying customers.

When the Focus Marketing Method is implemented,


you will have a smooth passage to growing your law firm.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

While your competitors are throwing their efforts in every


way possible without rhyme or reason, you will clearly
understand where your highest contribution lies, making
your marketing decisions effortless.
If you are ready to grow your law firm, this is the book
for you. Let’s begin.

16
2

FIND CORE SERVICE

A s we go through this chapter, there are a few things


you should keep in the back of your mind as you
choose your Core Service. First, when marketing your law
firm and choosing your niche, you want to be a big fish in
a small pond, not the other way around.
Also remember that one of the benefits of choosing
your niche is that in doing so, price becomes irrelevant.
You can charge what you want when you become a
specialist in your niche. Think of the difference between a
general doctor and a heart specialist. If you or any of your
loved ones needed the heart specialist, you would pay him
whatever he asked. Why? Because when people have a
problem, they want to recruit experts to help them resolve
their problems, and are therefore willing to pay more.

REMINDER: DO NOT TRY AND PROMOTE EVERY


SERVICE YOU OFFER!

17
COOPER SAUNDERS

Before we jump into choosing your Core Service, don’t


think you are forever tied to this niche. Once you domi-
nate this niche, you can expand to another. This is the
main goal of this marketing plan. I have had clients start
with one niche and dominate ten to fifteen! The key is to
take it one step at a time.

CHOOSING YOUR CORE SERVICE

First, you are going to learn how to choose your Core


Service. Your Core Service will be the one you spend your
time and money marketing and promoting. No longer will
you be throwing your money around without any rhyme
or reason. Instead, we are going to be strategic and
deliberate.
When consulting or implementing this marketing
method with lawyers, I get a lot of questions. One, in
particular, seems to appear more than the rest. "Wait,
you're telling me I must throw all of our other services out
the window? I don't know if I want to do that.
As I said above, keep your other services! We will need
these services to upsell and cross-sell the client after they
work with you. The main objective of marketing is to be
seen, and the Focus Marketing Method was created to do
just that.
An example to illustrate this point. I met with a law
firm in Dallas, Texas. Unfortunately, they fell into the
traps most law firms do, which is marketing every
service they offer. They were a criminal defense law firm
marketing every service it provided, thinking that if the
law firm had a wide enough net, they would have a
18
Find Core Service

better chance of generating clients. Remember the


visual in chapter one? They were stuck in the Land Of
Average.
After completing the steps in this chapter, we chose to
Focus all of our marketing efforts, such as Local SEO and
Google Ads, on DUI cases. We confirmed there were
enough searches to keep their law firm busy. Next, we
created t-shirts, landing pages, educational content, and
commercials to ensure we were known as the DUI
defense experts. (More on this later!)
Once we broke free of their competition and achieved
the goal of total market domination for DUI cases, a
funny thing started to happen. The owner of the law firm
called me and said, “Hey, Cooper! Suddenly, we are
receiving an enormous amount of referrals for the other
services we offer. Is this something you did? Did we start
another campaign?”
Why did this law firm, which very rarely used to get
referrals and repeat business start getting them in abun-
dance? Because they finally broke free from their competi-
tors and were getting seen on a consistent basis. No longer
were they one out of hundreds of law firms in Dallas
offering criminal defense services. They were the #1 law
firm in Dallas for DUI cases. Big difference! And since
they did an amazing job for the DUI defense, the
customers only assume they will be amazing at the other
services they provide. Without Focus, this law firm
wouldn’t have met these clients in the first place.
This is the main essence of the entire marketing plan.
Before we started working with this law firm, these were
all of the services they were marketing on Google Ads
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COOPER SAUNDERS

with a $2,500-a-month budget split evenly for each


service.

Criminal Defense
Traffic
Assault
Burglary
Robbery
Homicide
DUI
Sexual Assault
Drug Crimes
Domestic Violence
White-collar crimes

Amount of money allocated to each service? $227. On


top of that, the ads weren’t created for each individual
service, giving his ads a lower relevance score and making
them more expensive. Bad combination!
Before he listed all of these services, he told me he had
used a previous marketing company and didn’t receive
any results from them. Can you see why?
Instead, we allocated the entire $2,500 budget solely to
DUIs and created the ads to speak directly to this service.
His competitors didn't stand a chance!
While your competitors are wasting their dollars
trying to be seen for every service, you will be the shining
beacon of light that gets all the attention for the service
you choose, not the leftovers. Eventually, down the road,
we can expand. But for now, you need to choose your first
Core Service.
20
Find Core Service

IDENTIFYING YOUR CORE SERVICE

Three questions will uncover the best option for your


firm when identifying your Core Service. If you have
associates or employees, it might be helpful to get their
input when identifying your Core Service. They will often
bring different vantage points from everyday business
operations. Another thing to keep in the back of your
mind is what the world will look like in the future. Don’t
go all in on a shrinking market!
The first thing that you must do is grab the main list of
services that your company provides. With the list in front
of you, which ranks the highest in these three categories:

What do you love to do?


What is your law firm the best at?
What case-type makes your law firm the most
money?

WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO DO?

In Jack Canfield's best-selling book, The Success Princi-


ples, he says, "I believe you have a core genius—some one
thing that you love to do and do so well that you hardly feel like
charging people for it. It's effortless and a whole lot of fun. And
if you could make money doing it, you'd make it your lifetime's
work."
"Successful people believe this, too. That is why they put
their core genius first. They focus on it—and delegate every-
thing else to other people… "What is your core genius? What is
the one thing that you love to do and do so well that you could
21
COOPER SAUNDERS

do for free? Right now, you have the opportunity to choose


what you want to do. So, with money entirely out of the equa-
tion, what is it you love to do?"
If we spend all of our marketing efforts on this one
service, you need to make sure you love doing it.
When you love doing something, you will radiate
massive passion for it. If you don't, not only will your
clients sense this, but your employees will also. It’s impor-
tant for any law firm, or any business for that matter, that
the employees see how much passion the owner or
manager has for the actual service. The employees will
then carry over this same energy to the clients. This will
leave a lasting impression and will result in referrals and
repeat business.
The most successful companies in the world have a
borderline obsession with their services. All they can
think and talk about is their love for what they do and
new ideas to make it better. This type of enthusiasm and
passion is one key benefit of this whole process. However,
even if you are not this fanatical, it is still essential to
enjoy the service.

WHAT IS YOUR LAW FIRM THE BEST AT?

While what you love and are the best at usually live
under the same roof, you must ensure this holds true.

Quit bringing on customers that your law firm cannot


100% satisfy or are a pain to work with.

I fell for this trap when first starting WiseGuys. I


22
Find Core Service

would bring on customers I knew would be a massive


pain, but I did it anyway. Not only did my employees have
to spend more time with these bad customers, but no
matter what you do, they will never be happy. On top of
that, they could destroy your reputation and take time
away from the clients you can go above and beyond to
serve.
The Focus Marketing Method will enable you to
spend most of your time fulfilling the service of your
choice. Make sure you confront the reality of what your
law firm can be the best at.
When you perform your Core Service perfectly, it will
generate repeat business and referrals. When you can
perform this one essential service with perfection, it will
drastically speed up this process of dominating your
industry.

WHAT CASE TYPE MAKES YOUR LAW FIRM THE


MOST MONEY?

You could be in love with a particular service and, on


top of that, be the best at it, but if the service does not
make your law firm money, you will be out of luck. This is
the tiebreaker for when my clients are undecided about
which service they want to focus on.

BEFORE YOU DIVE IN HEADFIRST

Just as you would check the depth of the water of a


pool before diving in headfirst, you need to do the same
when choosing your Core Service. So before we allocate
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COOPER SAUNDERS

all of our resources to the service we have chosen, we


need to ensure that the market demand will keep your law
firm busy.
Many clients I speak with love this step in the process.
In theory, The Focus Marketing method sounds great, but
I always hear the same thing. “What if there aren't enough
potential clients to keep my team busy?” This step will
show you how to ensure you are making the right
decision.

STEP #1: GOOGLE KEYWORD PLANNER

The Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for under-


standing the keywords surrounding the service you want
to control. To get started, you will need to create a Google
Ads account. Then, on the top menu, there will be an icon
that says “tools and settings.”

Click this, and choose “Keyword Planner.”

24
Find Core Service

When you log in to the Google Keyword Planner, you


will have two options. You can either enter your website,
and Google will pull keywords from there, or you can
enter your own keywords. Choose the option for entering
your own keywords and the Core Service you want to
control. Google's default setting is to scan the entire
United States, so make sure the location you want to
control is entered.
This is also the step where you will identify the city
you want to control. With Local SEO especially, you will
rank primarily in the city where your office is located. For
example, look at Kansas City. We have many metropolitan
cities, such as Overland Park, Liberty, Parkville, and
Olathe, to name a few. Each has its own unique differ-
ences. Compare the search results from each city in and
around your firm, and see which one is in your sweet spot.

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STEP #2: ANALYZE THE RESULTS

After the tool finishes loading, it will show you two


things you need to focus on. First, you will see how many
searches there are per month for this exact keyword.

The second is Google will suggest other keywords that


coincide with this keyword. These are very helpful, but
ensure you only add the keywords that coincide with your
Core Service. Also, add your city and near me to your
keyword list. For example, DUI Attorney [city] and DUI
lawyer near me. Again, your keywords list should revolve
around your Core Service.
This step in the process is to confirm that there is
enough traffic to enable your law firm to thrive. Every law
firm's closing ratio is going to be different. If you have the
data, look at your closing ratio and determine if there are
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Find Core Service

enough searches. Hopefully, your closing ratio is right


around 20-30% for warm inbound traffic.
The main roles of the Google Keyword Planner is:

1. Before deploying all your assets to a Core


Service, ensure the service has enough traffic
and searches to be worth pursuing.
2. Identify different phrases that could be used to
find your law firm.
3. Understand the competition surrounding your
keyword.

Now that your Core Service is chosen and confirmed,


it is time to move on to the next step in the Focus
Marketing Method.
By now, you should see why the Focus Marketing
Method works so well. Unless you have a marketing
budget like Coca-Cola, your marketing efforts must be
deliberate and precise!
Let’s move on to the next step in the Focus Marketing
Method.

27
3

FOUNDATIONS & EXPERT STATUS

Y ou have your Core Service identified; now what?


Imagine you want to build a skyscraper. You
find the construction company, discuss your design,
vision, and goals, and hire them. Finally, after three years,
the building is completed! You have invested massive
amounts of time and money, so you are ready to see the
finished product.
You hop in the car with your family, and you are so
excited for them to see the result of all of the work you
have put in these past years. However, when you arrive,
something looks off. It is slightly tilted. Upon further
inspection, you realize you never took the time to set up
the proper foundation! As a result, the whole project is
scrapped; all you can do is lick your wounds and start
from square one.
Seeing that the foundation was the real problem is the
best-case scenario. Most of the time, lawyers don’t realize

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COOPER SAUNDERS

that it wasn’t the building but the foundation that made


the whole campaign a waste. They hire another
marketing company, and their terrible experience
happens again and again until they can no longer take it.
Then, they either resign themselves to only focusing on
referral business, or worse, they close their doors entirely.
Let’s discuss the foundation you need to create to ensure
your law firm doesn’t turn into the leaning tower of
average.
To begin, the main goal for your law firm is to be seen
as the expert for your Core Service. So how do you
achieve this?
The foundation of your law firm consists of the
following building blocks:

Branding
Website Basics
Expert Status
Social Media

Each one of these steps is crucial for you to have


implemented in your law firm if you want to see any
success in marketing.

30
Foundations & Expert Status

BRANDING

You want to become synonymous with your Core


Service in your marketplace. How do you do this? Excel-
lent branding and messaging. If you are starting your law
firm from the ground up, you need to choose a name with
your Core Service in it. For example, Motorcycle Crash
Lawyers. If you already have an established law firm,
create a DBA.
Here is the checklist of things you will need to
complete your branding

Domain (www.motorcyclecrashlawyerxyz.com)
Logo
Colors
Font

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Website
Social Media
Google Business Profile
Slogan

If you don’t want to go through all this trouble, that is


fine. This marketing method will still work great for you.
But just imagine you get in a motorcycle accident; you pull
up Google and search. You see three law firms; which one
would you click on?

Motorcycle Crash Lawyers


The XYZ Law Firm
XYZ Personal Injury Law

I know which one I would choose.

FIT THE PART WITH CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE

When creating your law firm's identity, ensuring you


have the best chance to turn this visitor into a paying
customer is critical. The messages you send to your target
market on a subconscious level are pivotal to the overall
success of growing your law firm.
What are the different aspects that affect the way we
make decisions on which law firm or company to use?
Luckily, some people study this type of thing and are
called neuroscientists. They specialize in studying the
brain and its impact on a person's thought process and
behavior. These people are marketers' best friends.

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Foundations & Expert Status

Referring to the book, How Psychology Works, they


state:
"Rather than relying on what consumers tell them—
and many individuals either cannot or chose not to
express their preferences—neuro marketers see how the
brain activity of volunteers is stimulated by emotions, the
key to deciding whether to buy something."
"Research has shown, for instance, that activity
increases in the mesolimbic (reward-linked) brain area
when participants are shown cars they find attractive and
that people's decisions change when they are more
hungry, stressed, or more tired than usual."
Isn’t it incredible we can’t even describe what we like on
a conscious level? That is why it is so important to under-
stand what humans actually want to see. That being said,
visual responses are the best way we'll have a profound
neurological impact on how humans make decisions
without them even knowing it. In addition, having high-
quality visuals draws customer attention and increases their
engagement. This ensures more people use your law firm.
Now that you understand how important visuals are to
your law firm's overall marketing and branding let's look
at the specific examples in How Psychology Works.
Infographics - Condensing data or information into a
chart or diagram helps it lodge in the consumer's mind. It
is said that a good infographic is worth a thousand words.
An example of this would be a detailed timeline of your
process. An infographic with the headline “You Got Hit
On A Motorcycle, What Now?” and have each step of the
process outlined.

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Fonts - How appealing the letters look and how easy


they are to read affect whether the consumer wants to
read the message they contain. As a law firm, you want a
font that shows you are the authority. Avoid scripts and
fussy fonts with unnecessary flourishes.
Videos - Moving images can tell a story well and
appeal to consumers who are used to getting their infor-
mation from television and video clips on the Internet or
social media. Have a video on your website explaining
your process and how you are the expert for their case.
Memes - Wittily captioned photos often ridicule
human behavior and spread rapidly via social media. The
combination of image and humor lodges an idea of a
cultural symbol in the brain. Be very careful with this,
especially if you want to paint yourself as the authority.
Am I saying don’t do it? Of course not. Just be careful.
Symmetry and Proportion - Symmetrical, well-
proportioned images convey a sense of harmony, while
asymmetry and distortion suggest dynamism or discord.
The Psychology of Color - Colors, above all, commu-
nicate mood and emotion and provoke a reaction. So
designers and marketers choose a color to fuse the
nonverbal spirit with the message the company or brand
wants to convey.

Green: Foliage and bright greens look restful


and suggest a product is natural, healthy,
restorative, reassuring, a new beginning,
environmentally aware, and fresh. Darker,
emerald green speaks to wealth. If your Core

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Foundations & Expert Status

Service deals with money, I really love this


dark green.
Red: Bright red gets a fiery response: exciting,
sexy, passionate, urgent, dramatic, dynamic,
stimulating, adventurous, and motivating.
Blue: Sky blue seems calm, dependable, serene,
and suggestive of infinity, whereas bright blue
crackles with energy. Dark blue has authority
and is associated with professionals, uniforms,
banks, and tradition. If your Core Service deals
with people in a tight or stressful situation,
blue is an amazing color to go with.
Pink: While light pink comes across as
innocent, delicate, romantic, and sweet -
sometimes verging on the sentimental - bright
pink, like red, is a hot, sensual, attention-
seeking, energetic, and celebratory color.
Purple: Linked to intuition and imagination,
purple is a contemplative, spiritual, and
enigmatic color, especially on the bluer side.
Red purples imply something more thrilling,
creative, witty, and exciting.

Shapes - Geometric shapes make a product look


dependable and familiar, whereas organic forms suit a
creative idea. If you want your clients to see you as
dependable and familiar, include geometric shapes in
your branding.
Personalization - One of the most important and
overlooked aspects of marketing is personalization. Have

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COOPER SAUNDERS

a professional photographer come in and take photos of


you and your office. Take photos of you doing research
and meeting with “clients.” (They can be actors if none of
your clients want to be photographed.) Show this poten-
tial client that you are a real person. They want to feel like
they already know you once they make a call.
Branding is one of those things that needs to be spot-
on across the board. So, generate a brand guide and
ensure it stays consistent across your marketing channels.
If you need a branding guide, text me at 816-708-0814, and
we will generate one free of charge for your law firm.
That was a very short and sweet lesson on branding. If
you want to learn more about the power of branding and
the psychological impact it has on your brain, I cover it in
my first book with more detail in Marketing Secrets of the
Ultra-Wealthy.

WEBSITE

Now that you have your Core Service identified, we


will look at your website's role and how to set it up to
ensure it will be found and turn traffic into leads. What is
the main role your website plays in your law firm? To
convert visitors into leads and ultimately into customers!
Never forget this. Simplify what decision you want the
prospective customer to make.
When people visit your website for the first time, espe-
cially in the first four seconds, spell out exactly how you
can help them. I’ve seen people try and get way too clever
with this. Remember, if you confuse them, you lose them.

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Foundations & Expert Status

They are trying to get to know you and understand if


you are the law firm that can actually solve their needs,
trying to get a glimpse of what it will be like to work with
you. This is where personalization and proof of work will
come into play. Show them who you are and your story.
One of the most powerful ways to stand out from the
crowd is to create a video outlining who you are and the
process you take to ensure you obtain the best results for
your clients. If possible, slip some testimonials from past
clients in there for some social proof. Then, talk about
your Core Service and why you are the best law firm to
handle their unique case.

ABOUT US

One of the most frequently visited pages on a website


is the “About Us” page. So let’s walk through how to set up
an about us page that turns visitors into leads. I have
tested this outline over many years, and the following
format has generated the best results for my clients.

Step One: Your Story

The first thing you need to outline is your story. What


does your law firm believe in? Why did you start this law
firm? What are your values and overall mission? Why do
you get up every morning? What drives you? Explain why
you chose your Core Service.

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COOPER SAUNDERS

Step Two: The Characters

Who is behind the law firm? Have professional head-


shots and links to each team member's bio pages and
LinkedIn accounts. Consumers no longer want to work
with faceless corporations; they want to work with real
people. So show off your personality and let them connect
with you and your law firm.

Step Three: The Conflict

Why did you start this law firm or focus on this


specific Core Service? What did you see in the market-
place that didn’t sit right with you? Did you work for a big
law firm a notice they really didn’t care about their clients?
I got into digital marketing because another company took
advantage of my grandparents. What is your story?

Step Four: The Resolution

What problem did you solve? And how did you solve
this problem? Did allocating your resources to become
the best at this Core Service help? Show proof that this
resolution is effective and you can solve their needs.
Include awards, testimonials, etc.

Step Five: The Dialogue

What does your law firm sound like? Do you use


specific jargon and lingo? For example, people who ride

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Foundations & Expert Status

motorcycles communicate a lot differently than skate-


boarders. This is where you will insert the “About Us”
video.

Step Six: The Call To Action

How can they get in touch with your law firm? Make
this easy; only give them one choice. Should they call?
Should they fill out a form submission? If you confuse
them, you lose them! One of the best ways to use client
testimonials is to place them under the call to action. You
want as much firepower as possible when asking someone
to commit.

Step Seven: The Setting

Where is your law firm located? Add photos of your


building and the inside of your office. Show your awards
and anything else you want your potential clients to see.
Always remember, when people visit the About Us
page, they are trying to get to know who you are on a
personal level. So open up a bit, and connect with them.
Drop the facade and show them you are a real person just
trying to help.
Understanding your website's basics is vital to your
law firm's success. I will say it again because law firms
tend to struggle to understand this point more than
anyone else; your website’s role is to do what? Convert
traffic into leads!
We aren’t going to hit on how to optimize your website

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COOPER SAUNDERS

to rank on search engines just yet; we will cover that in the


coming chapters.

BE SEEN AS THE EXPERT

Being seen as the expert in your niche is critical as a


lawyer. In many of these cases, this is the most important
thing to happen in a person's life. Step into their shoes.
They want to know the law firm representing them knows
what they are doing and is the expert. Another perk is that
you can charge more than your competitors and get the
best cases.
So, how do you show you are an expert in your field?
Create content. You can create content in many ways,
such as blogs, podcasts, and cheat sheets, but I will
cover my favorite method of generating content for law
firms.

Creating Webinars

Webinars are the best way to paint yourself as an


expert in your field. For example, a webinar topic could be
“The 5 Things You Need To Do If You Get A DUI In [City]
In [Year]!”
As you noticed, I included the year in there. This is
because people want to know if the content is relevant.
Nothing is more frustrating than clicking a YouTube video
or reading an article made in 2013. But the more impor-
tant aspect is you can duplicate the same piece of content
every year and change a couple of things if the laws
change.
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Foundations & Expert Status

Once your webinar is completed, you can then use


this content in a range of places, such as:

Upload it to YouTube
Chop up the videos and post them on social
media
Post the recorded version of your webinar on
your website as a blog post
Take the audio from the webinar and post it as
a podcast
Transcribe the webinar and publish it as a
blog post
Create a downloadable cheatsheet to
accompany this webinar to generate leads

Once you do a webinar on “The 5 Things You Need To


Do If You Get A DUI In [City] In [Year]!” That might be a
15-20 minute piece of content. You want to ensure you are
covering the topic in detail. But, within that piece of
content, there are bullets that you can grab and use for
social media content. These pieces of content might only
be a couple of minutes long. You can cut these up and
post them on your social media, website, and YouTube.
The client base will think to themselves, “Wow! This law
firm is providing value to my life, and if they are making
content like this, they must know what they are talking
about!”
If you don’t like being on camera, you can create the
webinar with your camera off and do a screen recording,
even though it isn’t as powerful. People want to see and
connect with you. Some of the most successful webinars I
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COOPER SAUNDERS

have witnessed my clients make were very unprofessional.


People want authenticity! Use this to your advantage!
Take one Saturday every quarter to create a webinar.
This will cement your law firm as the expert for your Core
Service. Once done, you can repurpose the content and be
seen as the expert.
That brings us to the next topic, which is often misun-
derstood by lawyers: how to utilize social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If utilized correctly, social media can generate a lot of


business for your law firm. But, most lawyers have yet to
learn how to approach it. So, let’s start off by under-
standing the bird's eye view of social media.
Social media is a place where people go to escape
from reality. They want to hop on Facebook or Instagram
and see what their friends are doing. The best way to
think of social media is a party. Would you ever walk
around a party, handing out business cards, trying to pitch
people to use your service? Would anyone want to talk to
you? Never!
But what if you were talking about something that
came up at work, letting everyone know what you do in an
indirect way that is entertaining? This is how you need to
approach social media. First, you need to capture the
attention and interest of your audience without directly
pitching them. Then, when they do need your services,
they will remember you and give you a call. Give out
information that will interest your target audience, post

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Foundations & Expert Status

testimonials from previous cases, and updates on the


current landscape.
This is where the repurposing of your content will
become your best friend. Since it is in video format,
people will watch it. People hate reading these days, espe-
cially on social media. So now, when creating your webi-
nar, keep this in the back of your mind. Can you throw in
interesting stories or case studies that would benefit social
media presence?
Your main goal is to entertain and generate engage-
ment. That is why influencers always say, “Like if you
agree” or “Comment if you disagree.” All they want is the
interactions. Show off your knowledge and build a loyal
following.
You can use the same content for your personal page
as well as your law firm page. Use tools such as Hootsuite
to schedule posts months in advance and post them to all
of your social media accounts at once. Depending on
what Core Service you choose, you should be more active
on the social media platform your target market hangs out
on the most.
Social media isn’t the most important thing to focus
on as a lawyer, but it can help cement your expert status
for your Core Service.

CHAPTER THREE FOCUS SUMMARY

To recap, once you have identified your Core Service,


the next step is to take is to set up your online foundation.
There are four key building blocks to this step.

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COOPER SAUNDERS

1. Branding
2. Website
3. Content
4. Social media

After you have completed this step in the process, it is


time to learn how to get your law firm in front of ready-to-
buy prospects.

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4

ORGANIC RANKINGS

O kay, enough of the fluff. Let’s start generating


clients for your law firm. The first step in gener-
ating cases for your firm is to get in front of people already
looking for solutions to their problems. What is the best
way to do this? Ranking #1 in the Local Map Pack.
But first, we must understand the Local Map Pack and
why it was created.

THE LOCAL MAP PACK

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“The ‘Google Map Pack’ (or the Google Local Map


Pack) is a prominent section in the Google local search
results that showcases the top-ranking local listings for
your location or the search location.
In the Google Map Pack, businesses are listed along-
side their geographic location, contact information, hours,
and other helpful information.
Users can click on a listing to learn more about the
company, call the contact number, or pull up Google
Maps navigation to the business’s physical location.” -
Searchenginejournal.com
So why does the Local Map Pack matter for your law
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Organic Rankings

firm? The goal of Google Maps is to make it easier for


users to find and interact with the business or law firm
they are looking for in a local search, especially on their
mobile devices.
The best return on investment is when law firms rank
#1 in the Local Map Pack for their Core Service. This is the
Holy Grail for law firms. In the next chapter, I will show
how to generate results from Google Ads. But for now, let’s
cover Local SEO.
Let’s look at what you can expect with Local SEO
regarding ROI.
Let’s break down the numbers of a law firm that ranks
#1 in its marketplace for personal injury cases. This is an
actual client, but I have decided to keep their identity
hidden. When I meet with a potential client, I always pull
out a case study from a previous client that chose the
same Core Service in about the same size market.
This allows me to give you an accurate estimate of
how many calls I can generate for your law firm. Current
clients have told me this is their favorite part of the
process. They are used to going into marketing plans
without really knowing what type of results to expect.
With me, you will get an inside look at what the
marketing plan will generate in terms of calls and leads.

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Again, if you would like the entire case study, schedule


a time to chat with me at wiseguysdm.com/contact.
This law firm chose “Semi Truck Accidents” as its first
Core Service. Notice our plan didn’t start with ranking for
all of these services. We chose “Semi Truck Accidents”
and expanded from there. If we had begun with all these
keywords, there is no doubt we would still be working
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Organic Rankings

toward ranking number 1 for any of these keywords. Now


they rank #1 for all Personal Injury Keywords. The red ‘A’
means they rank #1 in the Local Map Pack for the
keyword.

Average Monthly Searches: 450


Average Monthly Calls and Form Submissions:
66
Average Monthly Conversion Rate: 34-52%

I love Local SEO so much because any size law firm


can rank #1 as long as you hire someone like WiseGuys to
implement the service for you. Ranking #1 for these
keywords with PPC would cost around $20,000 - $80,000
monthly, depending on the market size. This law firm
generates cases every month that range from $50,000 all
the way up to $50,000,000. The return on investment is
remarkable. This law firm picks the cases they want to
work on and only brings in the best cases for their firm.
Of course, the return and what we charge for Local
SEO varies greatly depending on your service and market
size. If you want a case study from your niche and loca-
tion, contact me at Wiseguysdm.com/contact.
Now that you know the return you can generate from
Local SEO, let’s understand how you can rank your law
firm #1 in the Local Map Pack.

Local SEO

As I mentioned, Local SEO and ranking #1 in the


Local Map Pack is the Holy Grail for bringing consistent
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COOPER SAUNDERS

cases. An entire book could be written on this subject


alone, so I will outline the most important aspects Google
looks at when ranking a local business.
At the end of the day, Google wants the best user expe-
rience for the people who search on their platform. They
want to ensure the businesses that place at the top of their
rankings stay active and have a solid reputation. So let’s
jump into how to rank your law firm #1 in the Local Map
Pack.

Create Or Claim Google Business Listing

To start, you need to claim or create a Google Business


Listing. Without your business listing, your law firm will
not rank in the Local Map Pack. The best way to check for
this is to go to Google and search for your law firm. There
will be text that says, “Own This Business?” Click on this
and ensure it has been claimed. If it has not, go through
the steps to confirm your listing.
If your law firm doesn’t show up, you will need to
create a brand-new listing. Open Google, and type https://
www.google.com/business/. Once here, click “Manage
Now,” and then in the top right corner, there will be an
“Add Business” button. Enter your law firm's information.
They will likely have you verify by calling or sending you
a postcard.

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Organic Rankings

OPTIMIZE GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE

For simplicity's sake, I will go through each step you


need to take to optimize your Google Business Profile
from the top down.

Business Name

Your business name must reflect your actual business


name. For example, if you are the XYZ Law Firm, and
your Google Business Profile says, “Motorcycle Injury
Law,” you could end up getting suspended. That is why I
suggest creating a DBA, so you have the legal documents
needed to submit to Google if suspended. Even something
as simple as XYZ Law Firm ‘Kansas City’ could be
suspended.

Business Category

Your law firm's primary category is the most impor-


tant, and you must choose properly. The categories you
choose will contribute to Google’s determination of which
searches to display your business for and determine
which Google Business Profile features (like attributes,
bookings, etc.) are available for you to use. There are
thousands of categories to choose from.
Let’s say you ended up choosing “Motorcycle Accident
Lawyer.” Unfortunately, there will not be a category for
this. So you will need to select “Personal Injury Lawyer.”
But, if your business name is “Motorcycle Accident

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Lawyers,” you will almost automatically rank in the top


three for motorcycle cases.

Business Description

In the business description, outline the aspects of your


law firm that make you unique. Throw in some of the
keywords and locations you want to rank for. Such as
“Social Security Attorney Las Vegas.” Try and fill in the
750 characters with rich content about your law firm.

Contact Information

A huge step in optimizing your Google Business


Profile is ensuring your law firm's contact information is
correct.

Phone Number
Website URL
Short name

Location and Areas

Your business address has to be an actual physical


address. PO boxes or UPS boxes will not be accepted. If
you work out of your home or want to rank in a city where
your office isn’t currently based, use coworking spaces
instead of getting a PO box or UPS box. Most coworking
spaces have mailboxes that serve as “Virtual Offices.” The
best part is they only cost around $100 a month.

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Organic Rankings

Hours and More

Ensure the hours displayed on your Google listing


correspond with those on your website. Once you confirm
the hours match, go through the holidays and mark the
days you will not be open.

Photos

This is one of the most important parts of your Google


Business Profile. The photos on your business listing are
the first impression potential customers will get of your
law firm. The first thing to do is upload a cover photo.
This will be the first photo potential customers will see. I
suggest you make the cover photo a picture of yourself or
your law firm.
Next, add your business logo. Please ensure the logo is
properly sized. If not, it looks very unprofessional.
Contact whoever made your logo and tell them, “I need
this logo 500x500.”

Add Updates

Also known as Google Posts, this form of microblog-


ging enables businesses to post short pieces of content
like Facebook. There are several different post types,
including Add Update, Add Offer, and Add Event.
So, how often should you post? Once a week is the
sweet spot we have found to work best to increase the
rankings of the law firms we work with. But, again, consis-
tency is key. Use snippets from the webinars you create.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

Reviews

The reviews you generate on your Google Business


Profile are one of the most important things you can do to
ensure success. I know reviews are kind of a taboo subject
for lawyers, but they are so important for rankings and
building trust with your potential clients. We have
become a review-based society. Studies have shown that
we trust reviews from strangers more than personal
recommendations from people we know and trust. Not
only that, the more reviews you have, the higher you will
rank in the Local Map Pack.
So, what is the easiest way to generate reviews for your
law firm? To start, your business profile has a spot next to
the reviews that says, “Get More Reviews.” This will
generate a link that will take your client's right to the
review form. When they are sitting in your office, prefer-
ably after you give them good news, ask them if they will
leave you a review. Tell them it will only take 20 seconds
and would mean a lot to you. Text them the link while
they are sitting there. People are busy, and once they leave
your office, it will be ten times as hard getting them to
leave you a review.
Also, try and generate reviews consistently. When you
read this section, you will want to blast this link to
everyone that has ever used your law firm, generate a
bunch of reviews, and never think about it again. Google
wants to see reviews come in at a consistent rate.
Clients often are confused about why I am so intense
about them generating reviews. Depending on your
Core Service and niche, these reviews could generate
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Organic Rankings

your law firm millions of dollars over the lifetime of


your firm.

Services

After this, you will head over to the services tab. This
is where you will create the service and description for
your Core Service. Then, fill in the service description
with rich, helpful content. Few businesses, especially law
firms, take the time to fill out the service description, so
ensure you are doing this.

Q&A

The Q & A function is built to serve as a frequently


asked question section. You can post your own questions
and answer them. Q&As with the most thumbs up appear
on the Google business profile. The “Ask a Question”
button facilitates queries, and the “See all questions” link
takes you to an overlay popup showing all queries. This is
becoming an important new hub of social interactivity,
customer support, and maybe a ranking factor. Just ensure
you keep an eye out for spam and abuse.

Embed Google Maps In The Footer Of Your Website

Once you have created and optimized your Google


Business Listing, you want to embed your business listing
into the footer of your website, making it easier for users
to find your law firm. This also helps Google connect the
dots between your listing and your website.
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Assess Your Competition

One of the first things I do when I meet with a poten-


tial client is to assess their current competition. So open
up Google, search for your Core Service and see what law
firms come up in the Local Map Pack.

How many reviews do they have? Have they


replied to them?
What does their cover photo look like?
How many photos do they have?
What does their website look like?
How often do they post updates?
What are their updates about?

Wrapping Up Google Business Profile

As I said above, Google wants to recommend active


and reputable businesses. Google loves consistency.
Ensure the information on your Google Business Profile
aligns with the information across the web about your law
firm.
Now that we have covered the most important aspect
of ranking locally, there are a handful of other things
Google looks at when ranking a local company. Below are
the six other ranking factors Google uses to rank compa-
nies in the Local Map Pack.

Reviews – (17%)
On-page optimization – (16%)
Links – (13%)
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Organic Rankings

Behavioral – (7%)
NAP Citations – (7%)
Personalization – (4%)

The First Ranking Factor: Google Business Profile

Ensure you spend the majority of your time opti-


mizing your business listing before moving on to these
other steps!

The Second Ranking Factor: Reviews

Reviews are not only important for ranking, but they


are also a leading factor in driving traffic into paying
customers. This includes your Google Business Profile
and third-party ranking sites such as Yelp, BBB.org, and
Bing Local, to name a few.

The Third Ranking Factor: On-page Signals

Individual on-page optimization factors include NAP


data, keywords in the title, and domain authority. Pull out
the keyword list you generated in chapter two and find the
keyword with the most searches. Each page of your
website should follow the outline below. This will help
Google understand the content on your website and what
keywords you are looking to rank for.
Here’s an example of what the structure of what your
website page should look like:

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H1: Motorcycle Lawyers In Dallas


H2: Why Choose Motorcycle Law Firm

a. H3: Expert Law Firm


b. H3: 24 Years of Experience
c. H3: Over 200 Cases

H2: How To Choose A Motorcycle Lawyer In


Dallas

a. H3: Look at their reviews


b. H3: Understand their history
c. H3: Look at previous cases

On-page signals are massively important for both


traditional and Local SEO. Your website needs to have a
page for each service you offer and new content being
added to it consistently. To really grow in the location you
want to rank for, you’ll need to include the city or town in
multiple places across your website. On top of this, you
will need to use location-specific keywords in your meta-
data for titles and descriptions across your website.
Use the webinar you created in the previous chapter to
upload a blog once a month to keep your website fresh.
Whoever is creating or maintaining your website
needs to have a clear understanding of your Local SEO
strategy and how to implement it into your website.

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Organic Rankings

The Fourth Ranking Factor: Link Signals

Link signals are the number of websites that link back


to your website. I am sure you have heard the term “back-
links” before. This task won’t be worth your time if you
handle your Local SEO yourself. However, if you have a
company handling your marketing, such as WiseGuys, we
can get this done for you.

The Fifth Ranking Factor: Behavior Signals

Some examples of Behavior Signals include click-


through rate, mobile clicks to call, and dwell time.
But in terms of importance in ranking in the Local
Map Pack, Behavior Signals have been on a steady decline
for three years. So instead of focusing on how to influence
user behavior, your time will be better spent generating
reviews and optimizing your Google Business Profile.

The Sixth Ranking Factor: Citation Signals

Individual citation ranking factors include location


data, IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, and citation
volume. Having your Name, Address, and Phone Number
data consistent across business directories such as Yelp,
BBB.org, and Bing Local will be seen as more trustworthy
and authoritative by Google.
This will also be an easy way to generate backlinks to
your business website.

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The Seventh Ranking Factor: Personalization Signals

Individual personalization ranking factors include


things such as search history, search location, and device.
Therefore if you search for your business, click on the
Google Business Profile, and look at the website every day,
you will always come up #1 when you search.
Always remember, Google is notorious for changing
the qualities they look for when ranking sites.
The nice thing about hiring a company like WiseGuys
Digital Marketing is that we rank #1 in Kansas City for
Digital Marketing, Marketing Agency, and Marketing. So
if we can beat out all companies claiming they are local
SEO experts, we can do it for you.
Local SEO is great, but it takes time to achieve the
desired results. The next step will teach you how to
generate quality leads for your Core Service in as little as 2
weeks. If you are ready to start generating results as soon
as possible, let’s move on to the next step.

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5

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

G oogle ads are a money-printing machine if


implemented correctly. But unfortunately, most
law firms don’t see Google ads this way. To illustrate this
point, I recently had a meeting with a lawyer in Miami.
When he called me, you could tell he was upset.
“Hey, Cooper. I got your number from a current client
of yours. Do you have a moment to talk?” He continued, “I
have a family law practice here in Miami, and I am
worried about my marketing plan. I am spending a lot of
money on Google ads, and it hasn’t generated one single
case!”
I replied, “Don’t worry. I have heard this at least five
times this week. I’ll get you fixed up. What is your
monthly budget?”
“$5,500 a month. I mean, we are getting calls, but
nothing of value! My marketing company just keeps
telling me I need to spend more, but considering I haven’t
generated one case, I didn’t think that was the problem.”
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Common Myth: To see results from Google ads, you


must spend more than everyone else.
I asked, “Could you add me to your Google ads
account or send me the reports you are getting from your
marketing company. Usually, I can tell what the problem
is within 30 seconds of getting into your account.”
Once he added me to his account, I spotted a handful
of problems immediately.
“Okay. I have good and bad news. Which do you want
first?” I asked.
“Bad.” he replied.
“Your Google ads are a mess. The good news is that I
can fix them and bring cases to you in as little as a week.”
(Which I cover throughout this chapter.)
With a big sigh of relief, he replied, “When can you
start?”
In this chapter, I will show you how to set up your
Google ads for your law firm so this doesn't happen to
you. By following the strategies outlined in this chapter,
you can effectively use Google search ads to drive results
for your law firm.
When I implement Google ads for my clients, I always
aim to generate at least $10 for every $1 spent. This is a
good goal to strive toward.
While SEO and ranking organically in the Local Map
Pack is the ultimate goal, this takes time. With Google ads,
you can get the ads up and running in less than a week.
Another great benefit of Google Ads is that you can
promote and generate clients for more than one service.
So create as many campaigns as you want as long as you
follow the steps in this chapter.
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Search Engine Marketing

So with that being said, let’s go through how to set up


your Google ads campaign. If you are a visual learner, I
have created a free Google ads MasterClass that you can
watch at WiseGuysLFM.com/GoogleAds.

QUALITY SCORE

Before you jump into creating your Google ads


campaign, we need to understand Google’s Quality Score
and why it’s important if you want the best return on your
investment.
Remember, Google is a massive referral service.
People come to Google looking for referrals when they
need to find services or information. They ask their ques-
tions by typing them into the search bar, and Google
provides results that answer them.
If you searched for mountain bikes and then Google
returned results for dirt bikes, you aren't going to be
happy. In the future, you may even use another search
engine, such as Yahoo or Bing. This is why it's super
important for Google to ensure the results it returns to
users are relevant. This applies to both the paid search
results and the organic search results.
In a basic form, quality score is Google's way of
ensuring customers have the same high-quality referral
experience from paid and organic search results. To
ensure this, Google created the Quality Score.
There are four main components of your quality score

1. Click Through Rate


2. Keyword/Ad Relevance
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3. Keyword/ Query Relevance


4. Landing Page Quality

Let’s break each of these down in a little more detail.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-through rate or CTR is the percentage of people


that click on your advertisement. The CTR is calculated
by your clicks divided by your impressions times 100. So if
your advertisement is shown ten times, and out of those
ten times, it generates one click, you would have a CTR of
10%. In other words, 10% of people who saw your adver-
tisement clicked. The higher your CTR, the higher your
quality score will be. If more people click your ads, it's a
good signal to Google that your ad must be relevant.
But how does Google know what a good CTR is? They
will compare your campaign to others bidding on the
same keywords. Google has a ton of data from past adver-
tisers and uses this information to determine if your CTR
is good or bad.

Keyword/Ad Relevance

Relevancy between the keyword you are targeting and


the text in your advertisement is super important. This
means the text in your advertisement has to be relevant to
the keyword(s) you are bidding on. This is why I preach
on how important it is to have focus in your marketing
campaigns.

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Search Engine Marketing

Keyword/Query Relevance

The sentence phrase or question a user types into the


Google search box is referred to as a query. For example, if
I search “Should I hire a divorce lawyer?” and you are
bidding on this query, the ad that appears needs to be
relevant to my search. As discussed above, Google under-
stands that the more relevant a searcher's query is to an
advertiser keyword and ad text, the more relevant and
useful that overall user experience will likely be.

Landing Page Quality

Landing page relevance is the least weighted factor in


determining your quality score, but it plays a vital role in
converting traffic into leads. Again, everything needs to
match from the top down, from your keywords to the ads
and the landing page.
If someone clicks on your advertisement for motor-
cycle accident lawyers and they land on a generic contact
us page, your landing page quality score will suffer. Not
only that, but the user won't be happy, and Google will be
aware of this.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because your quality
score depends on how much you pay per click. The lower
your quality score, the more you will have to pay to get in
front of people searching for your services. I’ve met with
law firms that were spending a small fortune just to get
outperformed by a law firm with half the budget. Don’t let
this be you!

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CREATING YOUR GOOGLE ADS CAMPAIGN

Step #1: Google Ads Account

The first thing you need to do is ensure you have a


Google ads account. These are free to make. Just search
“Google ads” in the search bar, and it will bring you right
to it.

Step #2: New Campaign

Once you are in your Google ads account, there will be


a blue button that says “New campaign.”

Step #3: Leads

Once you click this, it will bring you to a page to select


the objective of your campaign. Choose “leads.”

Step #4: Search

After you choose leads, you will want to create a


“Search” campaign. In the next chapter, I will discuss how
to generate results from YouTube and Display ads.

Step #5: Goal

Select the way you want to reach your goal. Choose


“Website Visits” or “Phone Calls.” This is how your leads
will get in touch with you! When you click “Website
Leads,” Google will create a conversion action. You will
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Search Engine Marketing

need this when we discuss conversion tracking. Lastly,


name your campaign to keep everything organized.

Step #6: Bidding

The next screen Google will take you to is the Bidding


section. Let’s take a deeper look at another vital aspect of
Google ads. Now, in its most basic form, bidding strategies
are how you will bid on your keywords. There are many
different strategies to choose from, but I will outline what
works best for your law firm.
There are three main bidding strategies. First, there
are automated bidding strategies where Google will basi-
cally do everything for you. Semi-automated, which is
where you have a lot of control, but you let Google’s algo-
rithm do some work for you. And then, there is a manual
bidding strategy where you have complete control over
your campaign.
The main bidding strategy I implement is Cost Per
Acquisition (CPA). Before using this strategy, ensure your
conversion tracking is in place. With this bidding strategy,
Google works to maximize the number of conversions
while still hitting your CPA. Your set your CPA dollar
amount at the campaign or ad group level. Then, Google
decides when to show your ads, who to show them to, and
how much to charge for each click, so you reach your goal.
Let’s say you know the average profit you generate for
the Core Service you are promoting is, for example, $900.
You could set the CPA at $200. For more valuable cases,
the number would grow from there.

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Step #7: Search Network

After you choose your bidding strategy, the next step is


the campaign settings. You can utilize two networks: the
Search Network and the Display Network. For now, just
choose The Search Network.
Choose the location you want to target. You should
already know what city or area you want to dominate
from our work in Chapter Two.

Step #8: More Settings

The next step is to choose the “More Settings” tab.


This will give you additional options for your Google ads
campaign. The one thing I want you to focus on is the “Ad
Schedule.” If your campaign’s goal is to generate phone
calls, only run ads when someone is available to take the
calls. I’ve witnessed thousands of dollars get wasted
simply because the ads generated calls while the office
was closed. If your goal is to generate form submissions,
you don’t have to worry about this as much.

Step #9: Keywords & Ads

Now it is time for the “Keywords and ads” section. Edit


the “Ad group 1” to the Core Service you are promoting.
To start, let’s discuss your keywords. In Chapter Two,
we discussed the keywords you would focus on domi-
nating for Local SEO, but this was very basic. So let’s
break this down a bit further. Keywords are the lifeblood
of your Google ads campaign. If you bid on the wrong
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Search Engine Marketing

keywords or have too many, your ads will not perform


well.
You will first open an excel sheet and name it the
[Core Service] Campaign.
After this, you will head to the Google Keyword
Planner and click “Discover new keywords.” Next, type in
your Core Service and choose the area you want to domi-
nate. Then click “Get results.”
Once it gets done loading, grab all the keywords that
correspond to your Core Service this campaign is
promoting and paste them into your excel sheet. When
you have around 30-40 keywords surrounding your Core
Service, you want to add Match Types to your keywords. If
you ignore this step, as most people do, you’ll burn
through your budget in hours. On top of that, your
conversion rates will be pitiful.
There are three match types.

Broad match
Exact match
Phrase match

Let’s break down each of them to understand which is


best for your law firm.

Broad Match

If you don’t tell Google how and when to show your


keywords, it will default to this setting and show your ads
for any search it considers relevant. This could include
searches that use your keywords in any order or don’t even
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COOPER SAUNDERS

contain your keywords at all.


So if your keyword is:

DUI Lawyer

With no punctuation or brackets, Google could show


your ads for searches, such as

Law firm near me


Do I need a lawyer?
Estate planning lawyer
Become a lawyer

This was one of the problems the lawyer faced at the


beginning of the chapter. He was getting calls, but from
keywords he didn’t know he wasn’t bidding on! If you have
run Google ads and generated leads and calls from
random cases, this is why. Having the incorrect match
type is where most law firms lose a tremendous amount of
money.

Exact Match

This option gives you total control. You no longer have


to worry about spending your marketing dollars on
keywords that aren’t relevant to your campaign. This step
alone will save you thousands of dollars in wasted
marketing assets. To use the Exact Match option, throw
brackets around your keyword.
So if your keyword is:

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Search Engine Marketing

[Motorcycle Crash Lawyer]

Your law firm won’t show up for searches such as:

Free lawyer
Crash lawyer for motorcycle accidents
Personal injury lawyer
Should I hire a crash lawyer

If a searcher misspells the keywords in your ad, it


won't show up. This is the downside of using exact match
keywords - while it can help you avoid wasting impres-
sions, it also means you might miss out on potential
opportunities. Remember that people often use uncon-
ventional terms or spell words differently, so you could
miss valuable traffic. That brings us to the next match
type.

Phrase Match

Enter your keyword in straight quotation marks.


People will see your ad when they type in the keyword in
that precise order, but your ad will also display if they
type additional words before or after:

“Motorcycle Crash Lawyer”

With this keyword match type, here are some of the


searches where your ad will appear:

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Best Motorcycle Crash Lawyer


Motorcycle Crash Lawyer Near Me
Motorcycle Crash Lawyer in Kansas City
Motorcycle Crash Lawyer Consultation

However, your ad will not appear if the search


includes anything between the keywords or uses them in
a different order. For example:

Crash Motorcycle Lawyer


Lawyer for Motorcycle Crash
Lawyer in Kansas City for Motorcycle Crash

For your law firm, I recommend using “phrase match”


for your Google ads campaign. So, you will need to go
back to your excel sheet and add straight quotation marks
to your keywords.

Negative Keywords

Once you have added your straight quotation marks to


your keyword list, the next step you need to take is to
create your negative keyword list. This step is crucial to
improving your click-through rate and overall Quality
Score.
Be careful with this, though. One wrong move and
your entire campaign could suffer. So, initially, run your
Google ads with no negative keywords. Then, after a
couple of weeks, check back with your campaign and see
if any keywords are triggering your ads that you are not
happy with. Most of the time, it’s people searching for
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Search Engine Marketing

specific law firms. If you completed the step above


correctly, you shouldn’t have to spend much time on this.
Once you have your keywords list, copy and paste it
into the keyword box.

Step #10: Creating The Ads

The most important thing to remember when creating


your Google ads is to ensure when your target customer
sees your ad, they think to themselves, “Hey! This adver-
tisement is for me!” Remember, these people are already
looking for solutions to their problems. So keep it simple,
and create the ads to show you are the expert who can
solve their problem.
Here are two ads that appeared when I searched for
“Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers.”

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COOPER SAUNDERS

With Justice For All - The Local Firm - 50+


Attorneys
https://have-a-case.abclawyer.com/
For More Than 40 Years, ABC Law Has Provided
Trusted Legal Care For Clients. Our Team of Accident
Attorneys Have Recovered Over $1 Billion For Clients.

Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers - Talk To A


Lawyer Today!
www.notsemitruckaccidentlawyers.com
Our law firm specializes in helping victims get the
money they deserve. Visit our website to learn about
our law firm and our success with semi-truck accidents.

If I am searching for a semi-truck accident lawyer, I


am choosing the second one. On top of that, the first
advertisement’s quality score is pitiful, making them pay
more per click.
Before you move on, create 3-4 split tests of the adver-
tisement.

Step #11: Landing Page

Before you click publish, you need to create your


landing page. To ensure success with your landing page,
it's important to consider the needs of both the Google
editor and visitors. The Google editor will review your
landing page to determine if it meets their guidelines, and
if it does not, your ad may be disapproved, or your ads
account may be suspended or banned. To avoid these
issues, ensuring that your landing page meets Google's
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Search Engine Marketing

standards for a good user experience is crucial. According


to Google, five main elements contribute to a positive
landing page experience:

1. Relevant, useful, and original content closely


related to your ad text and keywords.
2. Transparency and trustworthiness, including
clear information about how you will use any
personal data shared by visitors.
3. Easy navigation to help the visitors find what
they are looking for quickly and easily.
4. Fast-loading pages to keep visitors engaged and
improve your ranking with Google. The
PageSpeed Insights tool can check and
optimize page load times.
5. Mobile-friendliness, as over half of all traffic
now comes from mobile devices. Therefore, it's
best to design your landing page with mobile
users in mind first and then optimize it for
tablets and desktop computers.

I have created a Landing Page Checklist to ensure you


follow Google’s policies.

Aligns with the overall campaign. Your


landing page must align with your overall
campaign, ensuring your quality score remains
high. The headline and copy on your landing
page should align with the text in your
advertisement.

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COOPER SAUNDERS

Easy to understand what you offer. If a


Google employee reviews your landing page, it
should be clear what your business offers.
Trusted claims. Make sure only to make
claims that you can support with verifiable,
third-party data, especially if you have a strong
track record or have received positive reviews
or awards.
Include testimonials. Client testimonials are
critical to the success of your landing page. We
have become a review-based society, and the
more social proof you have, the better. Put the
testimonials near your call to action. You want
as much firepower as possible near your CTA.
Website design. Design is important for
making a good first impression. Make sure to
invest in a professional and well-designed page
that is easy to navigate. Keep it simple and
avoid outdated or user-unfriendly design.
Within the first few seconds of landing on your
page, your prospect should feel that the
content is relevant, valuable, and clear about
the action they should take.
Privacy policy. Have your privacy policy at the
bottom of your landing page. It should be easy
to find.
Contact information. While it is not strictly
required, Google prefers that you include your
physical address (not just a P.O. box) on your
site to help build trust and show that you are a
legitimate business with a physical location. At
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a minimum, you should have a working phone


number or functional email address available
on your site.
Disclaimers. Be prepared to include a
disclaimer with your testimonials. In some
cases, Google may require a disclaimer next to
each testimonial, depending on your industry.
Alternatively, you can include a main
disclaimer in your footer stating that
"individual results may vary." This can help to
manage expectations and ensure that your
testimonials are not misleading.

The main goal of your landing page is to turn traffic


into leads. Therefore, the better the landing page, the
more leads you will generate from your Google ads. Here
are the bullet points you need to remember when creating
your landing page.

The power of one. Only promote one service


and offer one way to contact your firm.
Keep it consistent. Your landing page needs to
remain consistent with the verbiage in your
advertisement.
Keep Google happy. Follow the steps outlined
above. For up-to-date information on this, visit
WiseGuysLFM.com/LandingGoogle.
Established and Trustworthy. Show the visitors
your law firm is established and trustworthy.
Use client testimonials and show off your
awards.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

Setting up Conversion Tracking

I have a video outlining the steps you need to follow to


set up conversion tracking for your Google ads. Visit
WiseGuys LFM.com/conversiontracking
Tracking your conversions is the single most impor-
tant thing you can do. I am a numbers guy. I like to be able
to go to my clients and say, “This month, we generated 34
form submissions from Campaign A and 44 form submis-
sions from Campaign B. Here are their names and
number. How many of these turned into paying
customers?” This allows me to funnel more money into
campaigns performing well and pull back on those that
are not.

Step #12: Launch Campaign

You are ready to launch your campaign with all the


steps above completed. But, remember, this isn’t the type
of thing where you can set it and forget about it. You will
need to come back and review this regularly.
I know that chapter was a lot. But, when Google ads
are implemented correctly, they can generate outstanding
results for your law firm. Unfortunately, most law firms
don’t understand the difference between a good and bad
Google ads campaign. Here is a recap.

Quality score: Most law firms' quality scores


are pitiful!
Keywords: Use “phrase match” to ensure you
only pay for keywords you want to bid on.
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Landing Page: Build a landing page for the


specific campaign with conversion tracking.
Conversion Tracking: You must know how
many conversions your Google ads generate
for your law firm and how much each
conversion costs you!

With your Google ads properly created, you can


generate results you never thought possible. What basic
premise will allow you to generate results with Google
ads? Focus and discipline.
Now that your Google ads campaign is all set up and
ready to go, let’s move on to targeted marketing.

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6

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

T he next step to growing your law firm is


implementing targeting ads, such as social media,
YouTube, and Display ads. Targeting ads are a form of
cold outreach. You are interrupting or inserting your law
firm while someone is engaged in another activity. There-
fore, you must create something that piques their interest
enough to take action on your advertisement. In this
chapter, I will show you how to do just that. I will also
show you how to follow up with them to convert them
into a customer and build your Golden Egg.
Since the platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube change so often, I will give you the strategy to
use when using these advertising mediums. When you
implement this method, ensure that you have a training
expert (such as myself ) implement it for you!
Let’s jump right in, starting with an Ethical Bribe.

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CREATE AN ETHICAL BRIBE

An Ethical Bribe is a piece of content or information


your target market would want in exchange for their
name, email, and phone number. We are merely giving
them something of value for their contact information.
Here is the main reason to create an Ethical Bribe.
There is a very small chance you will generate a sale for
your targeted advertisements. Generating clients from
targeted advertising is a lot like how relationships start
with the goal of getting married. You will have no chance
if you get down on one knee and ask the person to marry
you the first time you meet them.
But, if instead, you ask them for their number, build
the relationship, and eventually getting married is
inevitable. (As long as you do everything correctly.)
Recent studies suggest that before a prospect uses
your company, they must see or hear from you seven to
twelve times. You have started that connection when you
can grab their information and contact them directly. You
also won’t have to keep paying “big tech” to get in touch
with your potential clients, but more on that later.
You need to stand out from your competition by
creating an Ethical Bribe that gives value to your target
market and paints you as an expert. Something that they
actually will want to read, rather than just getting boring
information puked on them.

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Social Media Marketing

Become The Expert

Another benefit of creating Ethical Bribes is that you


can paint yourself as an expert in your field. You become
an expert by educating people and showing that you
know what you are talking about. Becoming an expert is
important because people want to deal with experts and
are willing to pay much more for their services.
Your customers want to know that you completely
understand your profession and can perfectly solve their
problems. Experts can charge what they want and bring
on the best clientele.

Teach The Why, Sell The How

Another critical element that you can take advantage


of with an Ethical Bribe is teaching all of the reasons why
your target clientele needs your services and then selling
them the solution, the how.
One of the biggest problems I see when taking on new
clients is this: lawyers and their employees assume that
their target market knows the benefits of using their firm.
They skip over why they need you and preach how to
hire you.
Some of the most common how selling is telling
people how long you have been in business, how many
employees you have, and how you are so much better
than your competitor. Instead of telling them, show them.
I live in Missouri, the Show Me State. Show me!
Most of the time, your target market has no idea how
much your company can help them, and even if they do,
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remind them every chance you get. Show that you


genuinely care about them and want their lives to
improve. That is what business is truly all about.

Benefits and Features

When you are creating these Ethical Bribes, you must


remember one thing. You are only trying to hit on the
emotions (benefits) of using your law firm. Please don’t
create an Ethical Bribe that is packed with logic. This is
speaking on the technical aspect of things.
Benefits are how the product or service will improve
their lives. Your potential client always purchases every-
thing twice, once in their head and then once from you.
Remember, the potential clientele thinks in pictures and
is trying to imagine in their head all of the positive
emotions they will feel once they finally buy your product
or service. So help them as much as you can. Remember
earlier in the book when I talked about personalization?
Show them who you are and what to expect when they
call your law firm. Dealing with lawyers is intimidating
for a lot of the population. Show them there is nothing to
be afraid of.
So, what are the different styles of Ethical Bribes you
can use? Below are the most common types of Ethical
Bribes I have found from The Conversion Code by Chris
Smith:

1. Guide/Report/eBook: when you build a guide,


report, or eBook, you are able to give your
potential clients more perceived value. For
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Social Media Marketing

example, when you take the time to create a


guide on “The First Thing To Do If You Get A
DUI,” it increases conversions massively
compared to a blog post!
2. Cheat Sheets/Checklists: quick wins and
shortcuts are things that people gravitate to.
3. Toolkit/Resource list: “The First 5 Steps You
Need To Take If You Are Thinking About
Getting A Divorce.” Helpful content that is
quick and easy to deliver.
4. Webinar: a webinar is an online class or
discussion. People register for a spot, and you
teach them through video.

Warning: if you promise value and do not fulfill your


promise, your credibility is lost, and you can kiss the
prospect goodbye. No second date for you! Going back to
being able to stand out from your competition, look at all
of the marketing messages today; it is usually something
that looks like this:

XYZ Law Firm, Since 1999


Services we provide:
Service A
Service B
Service C
Call for a free case evaluation!

This advertisement is boring and will not generate any


kind of interest. You might as well light your marketing
dollars on fire; it will probably generate more attention.
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Law firms are actually spending money on advertisements


that look like this. No wonder they claim marketing
“doesn’t work!” This is your competition, and we will blow
their asses out of the water!
We’re only asking for a second date here, not going for
the home run with our advertisements. That will come
later. Your strategy needs to be infused with short-term
tactics. When you take the time to create something that
will add value to your target market’s lives, you move from
being just another law firm begging for attention, to an
expert in your field. Most consumers have never had a
company add value to their lives before giving them
money, only after.
Most companies are in a standoff with their potential
customers. It’s just like someone standing over a fire,
saying, “I will give you more wood, but first, you must
produce more heat!”
Let’s look at an example of an Ethical Bribe for an
Estate Planning Attorney.

“Free eBook: What will happen to your assets if


something happens to you? Create an Estate Plan
Based on Your Individual And Family's Needs.

As you age, your financial needs and health


concerns naturally evolve. Estate planning allows
you to age comfortably by addressing changes and
challenges head-on.

Get The FREE eBook Today!”

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Social Media Marketing

Is this the most riveting Ethical Bribe? No way. But it


speaks to my client’s target market. So if someone requests
this, they are his target market, and we can begin our
follow-up process.
Once you have information created for your Ethical
Bribe, you need to hire a graphic designer to make it visu-
ally appealing. At WiseGuys, we create these all the time.
So if you need an amazing graphic designer for your
Ethical Bribe, reach out, and my team will get it done.
WiseGuysLFM.com/EB.

Creating The Headline For The Advertisement

The headline is the starting point and most crucial


part of every advertisement. When creating the headline,
ensure it captures the attention of your target audience.
Opening with a Question

Are you curious about...?


Have you ever stayed up at night thinking
about...?
Do you ever ask yourself...?
Are you secretly afraid of...?
Looking for just the right...?
Tired of empty promises from...?
Tired of the same old...?

Opening with a Statement

Let me ask you a simple question.


We will change your mind about...
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COOPER SAUNDERS

It’s not every day that...


Here’s an idea worth considering.
Don’t let ___ keep you from getting ahead.
Don’t be caught without ____.
_____ often spells the difference between failure
and success.
If you are like most people, you probably...
We live in an increasingly complex world.
Today, more than ever...
It’s never too late to...
Let’s talk about why you need ____.
Let’s face it.
Let’s be honest.

Copy For The Advertisement

Almost every platform you run these ads on will have


a spot to add a paragraph of text. You need to pack this
with the benefits of reading and downloading your
Ethical Bribe. But, again, this should only pique the
interest of your target market. Riveting to your target
market, boring to everyone else.

Graphic For Ad

The graphic for the advertisement should be the same


image as your Ethical Bribe. Ensure the image is properly
sized for the platform you are running it on. Ensure the
graphic fits the target audience you are looking to
generate leads from.

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Social Media Marketing

Platform To Use

My go-to platforms to run advertisements are Face-


book and Google Display ads. Since Facebook owns Insta-
gram, you can choose to run ads there too. Social media
marketing is about creating that first interaction with the
potential customer. You must remember that you are
interrupting something they are doing, and if you don’t
come up with anything that will stop and catch their
attention, you will be throwing money out the window.
For Social Media Marketing, it is the same strategy no
matter which platform you decide to use. Offer value, get
their contact information, and close later.
I love testing my Ethical Bribe on Facebook because
you can capture a lead without making them leave the
platform. When you log in to the ads manager and click
“create a new campaign,” there will be an option for a lead
generation campaign.
This is massive. You want your Target Market to get
your Ethical Bribe as quickly and easily as possible. If you
make them leave the platform they are on; your conver-
sion rates will drop massively.

Landing Page To Convert

If you don’t utilize Facebook, you will need to create a


landing page for your traffic to receive your offer. I recom-
mend at least testing your offer on Facebook to ensure
your target market wants your Ethical Bribe before
investing money in creating a landing page.

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If you decide to make a landing page, follow the


checklist outlined in the previous chapter!

Split Test & Budget

For your budget, start small and increase the amount


of money in the ads generating the best results. Simple as
that. Every single advertisement that you make needs to
have an A/B split test. The A/B split test creates the same
advertisement but with different content.
You might have a video in advertisement A and a
photo in advertisement B. You are testing the waters to see
what works and what does not.
Split testing ads is what I do to start any campaign,
and it has always produced excellent advertisements.
The first thing I do is create at least ten different varia-
tions of the same advertisement. After that, I set them up
in brackets just like they do in tournaments like March
Madness. Then, finally, I launch all ten of them with a
budget of something small, like $3/day.
After a couple of days, I check on the advertisements
and see which ones performed better than their counter-
parts. Whichever advertisement did better got to move up
the bracket, and the one who lost gets thrown out. Eventu-
ally, it makes it up to the finals, and whichever advertise-
ment wins gets to run. After the ad runs for a while, the
conversion rate may fall. If so, start the process over again!
There are a couple of different ways to measure the
performance of an advertisement. It could be on the click-
through rate, clicks to your landing page, or leads
generated.
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Social Media Marketing

Depending on how intense you are, you can make a


bigger bracket and test as many advertisements as you
want. The most I have seen was around 100 or so, which
was insane, but they produced one of the best-performing
advertisements I have seen to date.
The advertisement produces 20-30 leads daily, while
the company spends less than 20 cents per lead. The more
testing that you do, the better your advertisements will be.
How different would your law firm be if you brought on
20-30 new leads daily?
Another big factor you must consider is that
marketing is an investment; the more money you put in,
the more you will get out. That being said, marketing is
not gambling. Before you go all in, make sure that you see
stable returns. If you see an advertisement working, throw
more money at it. If you see an ad that has poor returns,
shut it down.

MANAGING YOUR GOLDEN EGG

Now you have this massive database filled with your


target market and past clients. This is what I call your
Golden Egg. So how do you nurture and take care of this
Golden Egg to ensure it provides value to your law firm
for years to come? If done correctly, you will generate a
loyal group of followers that never forget you. They will
refer your law firm to friends and family, and you will
always stay top of mind.
The first step that we must take in the conversion
process is to nurture the prospect and continuously
provide them with substantial value. As I said earlier, it
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COOPER SAUNDERS

takes around 8-12 follow-ups and interactions for a lead to


become a paying customer. Simply put, the money is in
the follow-up.
How many times, on average, do you think the typical
business follows up with a lead before giving up? By the
fourth contact, 89.8% of companies have given up. We’re
going to be different.

Conversion Basics

Before we even consider asking the prospect to use


our company, we must nurture the relationship. We need
them to get to know us more, and the best way to do this is
by sending out consistent and valuable information.
You will need to employ a couple of components to
give yourself the best chance of converting your leads into
paying customers. First, to continue to nurture the
prospect, we will need to add them to an email marketing
campaign. You can use a couple of techniques when
creating your email marketing campaign, but this is the
most effective method I have used so far.

1. Nurturing Email
2. Nurturing Email
3. Nurturing Email
4. Sales Email

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Social Media Marketing

Ethical Bribe Delivery

Make sure this gets to them ASAP! Use automation


tools to ensure that there is no lag time. The longer they
wait, the harder it will be to turn them into clients. The
subject of this email needs to be what they requested. Do
not try and get fancy with this; there is simply no need.
Keep it simple, and just make the subject bar the headline
of your Ethical Bribe.
One thing that I have learned is that people prefer to
avoid downloading items from the internet. Therefore,
ensure your Ethical Bribe is the content of the email and
give them the option to download it with a PDF attach-
ment if they wish.
After the Ethical Bribe is sent, how long do you wait to
start the follow-up sequence?
Remember, you have successfully got them to take an
interest in you. That is the hard part; now, all you have to
do is nurture them and eventually turn them into paying
customers!

Nurturing Emails

Believe it or not, the content of your nurturing emails


should already be created. Remember in chapter three
when we talked about repurposing content? This is
another place you can use the content you have already
created. You will take pieces of the webinar you created
for your Nurturing emails and use them for your email
marketing campaign.

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Sales Email

Once you have sent three nurturing emails to your


Golden Egg, you can send a sales email. Here is what the
formula looks like for the sales email.

1. The problem they are having


2. How your law firm can solve their problems
with your services
3. Describe how amazing their life would look
with emotion after you solve this problem
4. Direct call to action

Remember, most of your prospects won’t use your


company until the eighth contact, so don’t get down on
yourself if they don’t convert immediately. Another crit-
ical aspect of email marketing is that you can keep in
touch with your leads and past customers without paying
“Big Tech.”
When you continuously grow this massive stockpile of
your target clientele, it will be like sitting on a gold mine.
However, before this stockpile turns into your own
Golden Egg, you must ensure you are taking care of it and
doing what is necessary for it to thrive. Once you do this,
you will be able to profit from it for years to come!

EMAIL MARKETING TIPS

Email Marketing will be one of the most important


tools for your company in your quest to convert leads into

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Social Media Marketing

paying customers. Therefore, Here are some additional


tools to help you in the world of Email Marketing.

Tip #1: Every email you send needs to provide


value to your leads.

Tip #2: One of the main reasons someone opens


an email is the sender’s name. Make sure you use
either your first name or your business name. For
example, if your email is sent from the “Sales
Team,” it will most likely not be opened.

Tip #3: Make sure all of your headlines pop. Bold


claims or mystery work best when trying to get
opens for your email marketing campaigns.

Tip #4: Schedule and create your emails at least


two weeks in advance. Make sure you are consistent
with the time and frequency of your campaigns.

Tip #5: Always make sure you are taking the time
to grow your email list. For most of your potential
and previous clientele, their email rules their lives.
Email marketing is the best way to keep in touch
with your prospects for free.

This process will allow your law firm to be seen as the


expert for your Core Service. Once you have a solid plan
in place for one Core Service, expand to another. Create a
separate Ethical Bribe and email follow-up.

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As I was wringing this chapter, an attorney posted this


on LinkedIn, and I thought it conveyed the essence of this
chapter.
“I started my law firm one year ago.
A few months later, I signed up a wrongful death case
that was referred to me by an insurance agent.
My law partner and I met with the widow. During the
consultation, the widow asked my law partner whether he
remembered her…
Turns out, my law partner had represented the
deceased and his widow 10+ years ago. My partner did an
excellent job on the case. Why didn’t the widow call my
law partner and hire him for the wrongful death case?
She couldn’t remember his name…
The moral of this story: Lawyers have to stay top of
mind. Just doing a good job isn’t enough. It’s easier now
than ever to stay top of mind. Make sure that your former
clients think of you when they have a legal issue.”
Attract your potential client's attention with Ethical
Bribes, keep in touch with them through email marketing,
and stand apart from your competition!

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7

THE MARKETING PLAN RECAP

T his chapter is going to recap the entire marketing


plan we covered throughout this book. Will it go
into as much detail as the actual chapters? No way. But it
will help guide you through the steps to implement.

WHY MOST MARKETING FAILS

Most marketing plans fail because there is not enough


focus. For your marketing plan to work, you need to
choose one service you want to promote and focus on the
services that will actually grow your law firm. The Focus
Marketing Method does just that.

STEP ONE: CHOOSE A CORE SERVICE

The first step we covered in the Focus Marketing


Method was to choose which service you would allocate

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COOPER SAUNDERS

all of your marketing assets to. Remember, Riches are in


the Niches.

WARNING: DO NOT TRY AND PROMOTE EVERY


SERVICE YOU OFFER!

After you identified which service you wanted to focus


on, we confirmed it with market research. We used the
Google Keyword Planner to confirm there was enough
market demand to keep your law firm busy. This also
allowed us to choose which city/area you would focus all
of your marketing efforts on.
This is the first step I take when working with a new
client. This allows me to get an accurate estimate of how
many calls I will generate a month.

STEP TWO: FOUNDATION & EXPERT STATUS

The foundation of your law firm consists of these


building blocks.

Branding
Website basics
Expert Status
Social Media

Branding

The main goal of this marketing plan is to become


synonymous with the Core Service you want to control. If
you already have an established law firm, you can create a
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The Marketing Plan Recap

DBA. If you don’t want to go through all of this trouble,


you can still get results from this marketing plan; it will
just take more time to achieve the #1 rank in the Local
Map Pack for your Core Service. SEM will still work the
same; just remember to follow the steps outlined in
chapter five.
Here is the checklist of things you will need to
complete your branding

Domain (www.motorcyclecrashlawyerxyz.com)
Logo
Colors
Font
Website
Social Media
Google Business Profile
Slogan

Here at WiseGuys, we do this all the time for law


firms. It truly isn’t a hassle or a massive expense. Doing
this will position your law firm miles ahead of your
competition.

STEP THREE: ORGANIC RANKINGS

Ranking number one in the Local Map Pack is the


Holy Grail for law firms. Let’s look at what you can expect
with Local SEO regarding ROI.
Let’s break down the numbers of a law firm that ranks
#1 in its marketplace for semi truck cases. This is an actual
client, but I have decided to keep their identity hidden.
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COOPER SAUNDERS

When I meet with a potential client, I always pull out a


case study from a previous client that chose the same
Core Service in about the same size market.
This allows me to give you an accurate estimate of
how many calls I can generate for your law firm. Current
clients have told me this is their favorite part of the
process. They are used to going into marketing plans
without really knowing what type of results to expect.
With me, you will get an inside look at what the
marketing plan will generate in terms of calls and leads.
Again, if you would like the entire case study, schedule
a time to chat with me at wiseguysdm.com/contact.
This law firm chose “Semi Truck Accidents” as its first
Core Service. Notice our plan didn’t start with ranking for
all of these services. We chose “Semi Truck Accidents”
and expanded from there. If we had begun with all these
keywords, there is no doubt we would still be working
toward ranking number 1 for any of these keywords. Now
they rank #1 for all Personal Injury Keywords. The red ‘A’
means they rank #1 in the Local Map Pack for the
keyword.

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The Marketing Plan Recap

Average Monthly Searches: 450


Average Monthly Calls and Form Submissions:
66
Average Monthly Conversion Rate: 34-52%

This law firm generates cases every month that range


from $50,000 all the way up to $50,000,000. The return
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COOPER SAUNDERS

on investment is impeccable. This law firm picks the cases


they want to work on and only brings in the best cases for
their firm.
Here is the checklist to ensure your law firm has the
best chance of ranking #1 in the Local Map Pack for your
Core Service.

Create Or Claim Google Business Listing


Optimize your Business Name
Choose Business Primary Category
Fill In Your Business Description
Ensure Contact Information Is Correct
Location and Areas
Hours and More
Add Photos Of Law Firm
Add Updates On A Regular Basis
Generate Reviews & Reply To Them!
Fill In Services With Descriptions
Embed Google Maps In The Footer Of Your
Website
Assess Your Competiton To Generate Ideas Of
Where You Can Improve

STEP FOUR: SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

Google ads are a money-printing machine if imple-


mented correctly. But unfortunately, most law firms don’t
see Google ads this way. This chapter covered the step-by-
step process you need to take to implement Google ads
correctly for your law firm. While SEO and ranking
organically in the Local Map Pack is the ultimate goal, this
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The Marketing Plan Recap

takes time. With Google ads, you can get the ads up and
running in less than a week. Another great benefit of
Google Ads is that you can promote and generate clients
for more than one service. Local SEO doesn’t allow this
much flexibility.
Remember this common myth: To see results from
Google ads, you must spend more than everyone else.
Here is the most aspect to understand to ensure your
Google ads perform correctly.

Google’s Quality Score


Keyword Match Types
Conversion Tracking
Bidding Strategies
Landing Page Essentials

For an over-the-shoulder explanation of how to prop-


erly set up your Google ads campaign, visit:

WiseGuysLFM.com/Googleads

STEP FIVE: TARGETING ADS & GOLDEN EGG

Targeting ads are a form of cold outreach. You are


interrupting or inserting your law firm while someone is
engaged in another activity. Therefore, you must create
something that piques their interest enough to take action
on your advertisement. In this chapter, I will show you
how to do just that. I will also show you how to follow up
with them to convert them into a customer and build your
Golden Egg.
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Create an Ethical Bribe

An Ethical Bribe is a piece of content or information


your target market would want in exchange for their
name, email, and phone number. We are merely giving
them something of value for their contact information.
Here is the main reason to create an Ethical Bribe.
There is a very small chance you will generate a sale for
your targeted advertisements. Generating clients from
targeted advertising is a lot like how relationships start
with the goal of getting married. You will have no chance
if you get down on one knee and ask the person to marry
you the first time you meet them.

Become The Expert

Another benefit of creating Ethical Bribes is that you


can paint yourself as an expert in your field. You become
an expert by educating people and showing that you
know what you are talking about. Becoming an expert is
important because people want to deal with experts and
pay much more for their services.
Your customers want to know that you completely
understand your profession and can perfectly solve their
problems. Experts can charge what they want and bring
on the best clientele.

Teach The Why, Sell The How

Another critical element that you can take advantage


of in an Ethical Bribe is teaching all of the reasons why
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The Marketing Plan Recap

your target clientele needs your services and then selling


them the solution, the how.
One of the biggest problems I see when taking on new
clients is this: lawyers and their employees assume that
their target market knows the benefits of using their firm.
They skip over why they need it and preach how to
hire you.
Some of the most common how selling is telling
people how long you have been in business, how many
employees you have, and how you are so much better
than your competitor. Instead of telling them, show them.
I live in Missouri, the Show Me State. Show me!
Most of the time, your target market has no idea how
much your company can help them, and even if they do,
remind them every chance you get. Show that you
genuinely care about them and want their lives to
improve. That is what business is truly all about.

Managing Your Golden Egg

Now you have this massive database filled with your


target market and past clients. This is what I call your
Golden Egg. So how do you nurture and take care of this
Golden Egg to ensure it provides value to your law firm
for years to come? If done correctly, you will generate a
loyal group of followers that never forget you. They will
refer your law firm to friends and family, and you will
always stay top of mind.
The first step that we must take in the conversion
process is to nurture the prospect and continuously
provide them with substantial value. As I said earlier, it
105
COOPER SAUNDERS

takes around 8-12 follow-ups and interactions for a lead to


become a paying customer. Simply put, the money is in
the follow-up.
Attract your potential client's attention with Ethical
Bribes, keep in touch with them through email marketing,
and stand apart from your competition!

WRAPPING IT UP

As our time together comes to an end, I hope this


book gives you the tools necessary to grow your law firm.
My main goal for this book was to cut straight to the point
on how to grow your law firm.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at:


cooper@wiseguysdm.com or text me at 816-708-0814.

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BONUS: CHAPTER ONE OF
MARKETING SECRETS OF THE
ULTRA-WEALTHY!
CHAPTER 1 BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

“Let others get caught up in the twist and turns of the everyday
battle, relishing their little victories. Grand Strategy will bring
you the ultimate reward: the last laugh.”
Robert Greene, 48 Laws Of Power

W hat qualities do some of the most successful


humans and companies have that all others
don’t? You see, success leaves clues, and it is our job as
humans to pick up on these clues and act upon them,
evolve. If we didn’t evolve, we would still be in caves, living
off the land, competing with the rest of the animal king-
dom. Is it by chance or luck that since the dawn of time,
every single successful group or entity has followed the
same pattern—no matter how large or small? No.
From Alexander the Great down to the modern-day
corporation, they all have one thing in common. They
understood their Grand Strategy and had the grit to
complete what they set their minds to, the one end goal
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COOPER SAUNDERS

they are striving to achieve. So the question is, why do


some people ignore these clues? Wouldn’t it be easier if
they just follow what works, or is it merely that that just
have no idea? Are they truly that oblivious, or is it some-
thing else?
To gather some context, we need to step back and
understand how humans separated from the rest of the
animal kingdom in the first place. In Robert Greene’s
book, The 33 Strategies of War, he says, “Thousands of
years ago, we humans elevated ourselves above the animal
world and never looked back. Figuratively speaking, the
key to this evolutionary advance was our powers of vision:
language and the ability to reason that it gave us, let us see
more of the world around us. To protect itself from a
predator, an animal depending on its senses and instincts;
it could not see around the corner, or to the other end of
the forest.
“We humans, on the other hand, could map the entire
forest, study the habits of dangerous animals and even
nature itself, gaining deeper, wider knowledge of our envi-
ronment. We could see the dangers coming before they
were here. This expanded vision was abstract: where an
animal is locked in the present, we could see into the past
and glimpse as far as our reason would take us into the
future. Our insight expanded further and further into
time and space, and we came to dominate the world.”
This is the key that I want you to see. Very few people
nowadays utilize this fantastic tool that got us here in the
first place—drifting wherever the wind takes them, no
direction at all.
Our strength is not that we are the fastest or the
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strongest in the animal kingdom. Our power is that we are


able to see what we want, create a plan on how to get
there, and get it done. Building on past mistakes and
learning from them.
This is nothing new. This is how humans survived and
evolved. We were able to have vision, and we were able to
plan tactics and strategies to get us out of harmful situa-
tions before they happened. This is how we were able to
control the animal kingdom completely. This is why we
dominate the sky, land, and ocean.
Even with this extraordinary strength that God
blessed humanity with, we find ourselves in bad situa-
tions. Society got too comfortable. Life is now too easy
compared to our primal days. We no longer have to worry
about a saber tooth tiger entering our cave in the middle
of the night.
How was Alexander The Great able to conquer
the entire Persian Empire before the age that most of
us are allowed to have a beer? From birth, his mother gave
him a clear destiny and goal: to rule the known world.
From the age of three, he could see in his mind’s eye the
role he would play when he was thirty. He was trained to
master his emotions, and understood the tactical moves
he must make. He always was thinking ahead, saying to
himself, “This action will advance me toward my goal; this
one will lead me nowhere.”
He had a Grand Strategy, and once he had that, he
developed tactical objectives to get there, and then every-
thing else fell into place. He also had excellent teachers
that helped him along the way.
When you are trying to grow your company, there is a
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system in place, a solid plan that has already worked for


centuries. All you have to do is follow it. Starbucks has a
Grand Strategy, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit
– one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
Every move Starbucks makes, they can look back and ask
themselves, “Will this action move us toward our goal, or
away from it?”
That’s it. That is the exact method that every single
successful person or organization took to achieve victory.
They established a clear Grand Strategy and then took
steps to achieve the goals, but seeing where you want to
end up is the easy part.
So why do some people ignore these clues? Wouldn’t
it be easier if they just follow what works? Are they indeed
that oblivious, or is it something else? As the saying goes,
“If it were more information we needed, we would all be
rich and have six-packs.” The information is here, and it’s
always been here.
I believe that what separates the great companies,
people, and organizations is having the grit to see it all the
way through. They make the right moves consistently.
When you make a long-term plan, you must have a lot of
patience and resilience to see it through. At a certain
point, you know that eating your body weight in cake is
not a good idea, but that is your future self’s problem, not
yours.
Humans are in love with instant gratification. They
want happiness now, even though it will prove to be detri-
mental down the road. Truly great leaders are able to
understand that nothing comes easy, and if it did,
everyone would do it.
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I can tell within five minutes if a potential client has


the grit to implement this strategy. Are they looking for a
get rich quick scheme, or are they looking to dominate
their industry? There is nothing wrong with wanting a
get rich quick scheme, but this is not where you will
find it.
Before you start this journey, ask yourself,
“Am I in for the long haul, or not?” If you are, get ready
for the ride of your life. You might be asking yourself,
“Can I really use this method to grow my company?”

My answer is this:

Humans have used the Grand Strategy to…


Dominate the Animal Kingdom
Harness Electricity
Communicate via Radio Frequencies
Visit the Moon
Discover Break Through Medical Treatments
And much, much more. Yes, I know it will work
to grow your company. I’ll also walk you
through the exact way to build your
foundation and guide you through every
tactical step you must take to achieve your
Grand Strategy. I’m going to give you the magic
formula. Bold claim? You bet.

I can show you how to establish your foundation and


employ tactics to get to your desired end goal, but at the
end of the day, it’s up to you to take action. It’s as simple as
that.
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There are three main aspects of creating a Grand


Strategy.

1. Identify Grand Strategy


2. Establish Foundation
3. Establish Tactical Rocks

First Step: Identify Grand Strategy

$15,000,000 in revenue in 5 years?


#1 Supplier in the Country by 2026?
Bring your product to every household in
America?
Every household in the world?

The first step is to choose where you want to go. What


is your overall mission for your company? What is the end
goal? When you are lying on your death bed, what would
have to happen for you to be completely satisfied? Let’s
assume that there is such a thing.
I want your Grand Strategy to be so massive that it
scares you a little bit when you say it. When you can see it
in your mind and honestly believe that it is possible, that
is when your life will never be the same!

The Man Who Thinks He Can


If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
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For out of the world we find,


Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are


You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Choose your Grand Strategy, then commit to it.


Commit 100% to everything in life, no matter what. The
grass is not greener on the other side, trust me.

Second Step: Foundation

The second step we are going to take is to set up a


proper foundation. Think about it in this context. Imagine
that your Grand Strategy is on the other side of a rushing
river. Swimming is not an option. We will build a founda-
tion so that the slippery rocks that we step on won’t slide
out from underneath us. The rocks you’re stepping on to
get across the river are your tactical rocks. If you do a
superficial job or don’t build a foundation at all, you will
eventually slip, fall in the river, and die. Rather than you
actually dying, it is your dreams, goals, and desires.
Personally, I’d rather die than give up on my dreams,
goals, and desires. How about you?
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Third Step: Tactical Rocks

Now that we understand where we want to go and


have the foundation in place, we will develop the steps to
get there—one step at a time, with purpose and determi-
nation. I’m going to walk you through the exact steps I
take with my clients to achieve their desired Grand
Strategy for business growth.
Remember, most companies these days are only
focusing on the tactical side of things, acting more and
more like animals. They are either too lazy or are simply
unaware of linking their Grand
Strategy. Without the link, you are dead in the water.
Without understanding your Grand Strategy, you will
have no idea where you need to go, and eventually, you
will get tired and fall into the river. Without establishing
the foundation, you will be running in quicksand and
eventually get so tired and frustrated you will lay down
and die. When you use tactical marketing, you rely on
small wins that bring very little long-term success. When
you only rely on small tactical victories without a Grand
Strategy, you will get lost and ultimately fail. Companies
that “cook the books” so that their earnings calls look
good are tactical players. They only think of short-term
wins, even though the inevitable is coming.
Examples of tactical marketing are slashing your
prices, competing solely on price, and using inaccurate
sales methods to convince the client that your product or
service does something that it does not. When you lie and
cheat to get ahead, it will eventually all come crashing
down!
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Not all companies that just use tactical marketing


are bad! Some companies simply do not know the
difference. They were told, “Get the most customers in
the door by any means necessary!” If this is you, don’t
worry. This is the new normal for companies. Humans
are now so obsessed with instant gratification that
they’d
rather chose the easy way out rather than taking the
time and really create something beautiful. Truly sad.
When you use tactical marketing skills without a long-
term strategy, it is like a person with an addiction doing
whatever they can to get their next “hit.” The more you do
it, the harder it is to get off it, just like being addicted to
gambling.
This is what you need to be very aware of. If all you
did was lose at the casino, they would have no clientele, so
they plan the customer’s experience flawlessly. While I
was sitting in Las Vegas, I decided to watch one guy. He
was very particular about which machine he picked. I
overheard him talking to his buddy that he wanted to find
one that someone had been at for a while. I thought it
kind of made sense. The machine would be closer to
handing out a big payday.
After a lady that had been sitting there for a while got
up, he promptly sat down and deposited his crisp $100
bill. After about 15 pulls, he was down $55, and then bang!
The machine started making all of these loud noises, and
colors were lighting up all around him. As people looked
over to his machine to watch this lucky fellow, a grin grew
across his face like he was the chosen one. He had the
Midas touch, simple as that. I even found myself smiling. I
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mean the colors and sounds; it was infectious! He was


now up to $223,
and I thought to myself, that’s it? After the show that
machine put on, I thought he might have won the whole
damn casino!
But I continued to watch him after about thirty pulls;
he was at about $177. Still not bad! Up
$77 in Vegas! A strange thing started to happen, the
wins got smaller, and the losses got bigger until he was at
a depressing $3.53. As he hit the “cash-out” button, I asked
myself why didn’t he stop when he was at $223?
Here is the reason—as a human, your brain produces
chemicals for pleasure. Two of those chemicals are
dopamine and serotonin (more on serotonin later).
Dopamine gets pumped into the brain for short term
wins, like eating chocolate, hitting the jackpot at the
casino— basically getting a quick victory. Dopamine is
the part of the brain connected with addiction and what
casinos take advantage of to create a loyal customer base.
When you are growing your company, it might feel
good getting a client with false advertising or bringing on
a client even though your company isn’t truly going to
solve their needs. It feels good to bring in five new clients
even though you needed fifteen to break even. Remember,
you are only hurting yourself even though it feels incred-
ible at the moment.
When you use strategic and tactical marketing
simultaneously, you will be able to charge what you
want and not only be respected in your field but dominate
it. The strategic marketing outlook will take a bit more
planning, but it will bring massive results in the long
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term. Now that you understand your Grand Strategy, the


rest of this book will show you how to get there.
While I was writing this book, Elon Musk sent out a
tweet of his Grand Strategy of what he wanted to achieve
back in 2006. It’s simple. He knew where he wanted to go.
Now all he had to do is figure out how to get there. He had
his foundation and Grand Strategy, and that is genuinely
all you need. Luckily for you, I am going to give you the
step by step tactical plays as well.

You Will Need Gas

Before we move onto the next chapter, I want to hit on


something that I feel many people struggle with when
they achieve success, and that is suppressing their dark
side. They tell themselves that wanting a great life is self-
ish, but it’s not. Since you were a kid, you were told false
prophecies about money and success, and it’s B.S. You’re
supposed to live an abundant and fruitful life. Do not let
small-minded people take that away from you.
In Tim S. Grover’s book Relentless, he does a fantastic
job explaining it this way, “You know the story of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde? A respected, upstanding doctor discovers a
potion that temporarily turns him into a dark, sinister
predator, and for a while, he finds he enjoys being free
from fear and morality and emotions, not caring about
anyone or anything. For the first time in his life, he does
what he feels, not what he’s been taught.”
Welcome to the dark side. I want you to unmask this
fabricated persona that society made you put on. I want
you to be free and enjoy everything you want to enjoy. Eat
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whatever you want to eat, travel wherever you want, be


yourself, and listen to your heart.
Do you know the people who made the rules? Most
likely losers. These might be people that
didn’t mean you any harm. They just might not know
better themselves. They just listened to their parents and
accepted it as reality.
A couple of years ago, I told one of my buddies that I
was going to start a business.
His 29-year-old brother that still lived in their parents
basement overheard me and said, “Ah, are you sure?
There is a lot of things that could go wrong. Most busi-
nesses go bankrupt in the first year!”
I paused for a minute and asked him, “How do you
know? Have you ever done it?”
Of course, he hadn’t. He got all defensive and gave me
one of those generic “good luck’s” as most people do when
you tell someone a big goal that they truly deep down
wish they could do, but they don’t because it scares them.
They are too worried about what their friends and family
would say.
One of my favorite questions to ask is, “How do you
know?” Followed by, “Have you ever done it?”
Staple these questions into your memory every time
someone wants to unload a heaping pile of B.S. on your
dreams. Want to become a millionaire? Don’t take advice
from your broke aunt. Want to own real estate? Do not
take advice
from your loser friends. Want to grow a business? Ah,
you get my point.
On this journey, you’ll be faced with people that will
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criticize or be flat-out rude to you about your plans or


goals. Here’s how to deal with this. Don’t get upset.
Keep a calm head and reply with, “I am sorry, but I
don’t take criticism from people I wouldn’t take advice
from,” and leave it at that.
Why am I saying all of this? Because even the fastest
sports cars need gas. You need to have the motivation to
see this thing through. You are about to change the world.
Not only does your future family need you, but the world
also needs you. The world needs hope!
I believe in you, and I trust that you will make this
world a better place. Some people don’t like seeing
someone go after their goals because that just reminds
them of the ones they gave up on. Stand in the face of crit-
icism, doubt, hatred, and fear and come out victorious.
Remember, the only difference between the successful
human and the unsuccessful human is this: the successful
human can see the bigger picture and create a plan to
achieve their goals.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cooper Saunders is the owner and founder of WiseGuys


Digital Marketing, located in Kansas City, Missouri. He
has worked with companies across the United States to
grow their revenue and increase their brand visibility.
Simply put, he knows how to grow businesses with tried
and true marketing methods, developed by analyzing
some of the world's most successful companies.

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